"She Said" focuses on the New York Times investigation into Harvey Weinstein's decades of abuse, mistreatment, and sexual misconduct in Hollywood, an investigation that did take place in real life.
Screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz used Kantor and Twohey's book of the same name as inspiration to tell the story from their perspective. "The film is not about Weinstein, it's about a collective of women who break down decades of silence through their bravery," she told the L.A. Times. "We all felt that Weinstein had taken up enough oxygen for several lifetimes, and I couldn't envisage writing a script with him in it."
"She Said"'s storytelling is similar to that of 2015's "Spotlight" and 2017's "The Post." "Spotlight" followed reporters at The Boston Globe as they exposed the cover-ups of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, while "The Post" tells the story of how The Washington Post published the infamous Pentagon Papers in the early '70s. All three movies tackle tough topics that showcase how investigative journalism plays out in real life.