'The Tale' Is a Powerful, Meaningful Film about an Utterly Disturbing Subject Matter

So far, The Tale is the most terrifying film I’ve seen in 2018.  Now, it’s not a horror movie at all, nor is it a thriller.  It’s a drama based on the real-life experience of the writer and director of this film, Jennifer Fox.  But what she underwent is utterly disturbing.

The movie follows Jennifer Fox (played by Lauren Dern), who is living a happy, fulfilling life.  She has a successful career as a documentary filmmaker and a professor, and her relationship with her fiancé (Common) is loving and strong.  But when her mother (Ellen Burstyn) discovers an upsetting essay she wrote when she was 13 years old, she begins to look into that forgotten period of her life.  As her research goes deeper, she realizes that her memories of the events don’t match up with the shocking truth.

Apparently, she was sexually abused when she was 13.  Two mentors – Mrs. G (Elizabeth Debicki) and Bill Allens (Jason Ritter) – sexually groomed her, which led to her being repeatedly raped by Bill while being brainwashed that that they were legit lovers and it was consensual.

The movie depicts these creepy events.  The sexual scenes between Bill and Jenny weren’t graphic, but it was still sickening to watch because it was pedophilia.  Thankfully, at the end of the movie, it was made clear that in the intimate scenes involving a minor, an adult body double (and editing, I assume) was used.  The disclaimer gets rid of the feelings of revulsion and heartbreak for a while, but they return as soon as you realize that although what is shown in the film is not real, there are indeed monsters out there in the real world that groom and use children for sex.

Nevertheless, though the subject matter of the movie is horrible, the movie itself is fascinating and worthwhile.  Since Jennifer Fox was telling her own personal story, it’s handled with sagacious finesse and sensitivity.  Despite all the scandalous content, nothing feels exploited.  Instead, the narrative is emphatically heartfelt and thoughtful.

It’s riveting to see adult Jenny’s journey to piece the puzzles of her past together.  Flashback scenes show how she initially remembers what transpired, and as she gains new information which jogs her memory, those flashback scenes play again in its corrected version.  The best example of this happens early in the movie.  When she began reminiscing that particular moment in her life, she pictured herself as being more mature and sophisticated.   But later, when she looked at old photo albums, she learned to her great surprise that she was significantly younger and underdeveloped than she imagined.

Another huge aspect of Jenny’s arc is her gradual acceptance of the reality that she was a victim of child sexual abuse.  At first, she was stubbornly rejecting the idea.  But then it eventually dawned on her that she has been experiencing for a long time symptoms of someone who was sexually abused.  It was a powerful look on what sex abuse victims are likely going through, and Laura Dern’s portrayal of it was compelling.

In the end, I probably won’t watch The Tale again.  I don’t have the stomach for it.  Nevertheless, it’s truly moving and meaningful, and one of the best films I’ve seen this year so far.