History Film / ThePost

* LocalAngle: Running just under the surface is the tension of Bradlee wanting to raise the profile of ''The Washington Post'' beyond being just a “local paper” (albeit of Washington, D.C.) to the national profile of ''The New York Times'', versus Kay Graham’s desire to protect her company and its [=IPO=]. She eventually comes around.

* {{Prequel}}: Of a sort, to ''Film/AllThePresidentsMen''. Aside from the obvious fact of being based on real-life events at the same newspaper during the [[RichardNixon Nixon administration]] and sharing several characters (most notably Ben Bradlee), the SequelHook at the end at the setting of all credits in Helvetica[[note]]technically Neue Helvetica — not released until 1983 — but close enough[[/note]] solidifies it as this.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Everyone, but special note should be given to RichardNixon ([[CharacterAsHimself as himself]]), speaking on his own secret recordings — then unknown to the public — while being mimed by an actor seen through a window of the Oval Office.

* SequelHook: Right when the camera zooms out and you think the movie’s going to start telling you what happened to the characters later on, it cuts to Nixon saying the Post will never be allowed in the White House again and then a security guard discovering a break-in at Watergate. You can practically hear the guard say, “here we go again!”

* CharacterAsHimself: [[RichardNixon President Nixon]], as heard on his secret Oval Office recordings. He makes a remarkably effective villain, despite being only tangentially related to the Pentagon Papers themselves.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Everyone, but special note should be given to RichardNixon ([[CharacterAsHimself as himself]]), speaking on his own secret recordings — then unknown to the public — while being mined by an actor seen through a window of the Oval Office.

* DramaticIrony: At several points during the film, characters opine about their chances of getting another story like this, and at the end, Kay Graham says she might not survive another ordeal like this. But as the audience already knows (and is revealed at the very end), Watergate is just around the corner.

* [[Prequel]]: Of a sort, to ''Film/AllThePresidentsMen''. Aside from the obvious fact of being based on real-life events at the same newspaper during the [[RichardNixon Nixon administration]] and sharing several characters (most notably Ben Bradlee), the SequelHook at the end at the setting of all credits in Helvetica[[note]]technically Neue Helvetica — not released until 1983 — but close enough[[/note]] solidifies it as this.

* Prequel: Of a sort, to ''Film/AllThePresidentsMen''. Aside from the obvious fact of being based on real-life events at the same newspaper during the [[RichardNixon Nixon administration]] and sharing several characters (most notably Ben Bradlee), the SequelHook at the end at the setting of all credits in Helvetica[[note]]technically Neue Helvetica — not released until 1983 — but close enough[[/note]] solidifies it as this.

* StayInTheKitchen: Kay Graham finds herself running into this attitude, in spite of being the paper's ''owner''.

'''The Post''' is a 2017 drama directed by Creator/StevenSpielberg and starring Creator/MerylStreep, Creator/TomHanks, and [[AllStarCast a slew of well-known character actors you probably recognize from TV]]. It tells the [[BasedOnATrueStory true story]] of how Kay Graham, publisher of the Washington Post, along with editor Ben Bradlee, defied the White House to publish the leaked government documents later known as the Pentagon Papers, which detailed how the government had spent years misleading the public about the Vietnam War.

* GrowingTheBeard: Arguably a RealLife example with the paper itself. At the time the Washington Post was seen as a lesser player on the DC circuit and perhaps a bit too chummy with the government. It wasn't until they took a risk on the Pentagon Papers that they truly became a force for investigative journalism.

* StayInTheKitchen: Kay Graham finds herself running into this attitude, in spite of being the paper's ''owner''.
* ValuesResonance: the movie was made as a direct rebuke to attacks on the press by the UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump administration.

The movie was given a limited release on December 13, 2017 before opening wide on January 12, 2018. The trailer can be seen [[https://youtu.be/nrXlY6gzTTM here]].

The movie will be given a limited release on December 13, 2017 before opening wide on January 12, 2018. The trailer can be seen [[https://youtu.be/nrXlY6gzTTM here]].

* IntrepidJournalist: Much of the Post's staff, but perhaps most notably Ben Bagdikian.

* StayInTheKitchen: Kay Graham finds herself running into this attitude, in spite of being the paper's ''owner''.

* SpiritualSuccessor: to both ''Film/AllThePresidentsMen'' (with which it shares both a setting and the RealLife character of Ben Bradlee, though it takes place years earlier) and ''Film/{{Spotlight}}'' (with whom it shares a co-screenwriter in Josh Singer).

* ChristmasRushed: Like ''Film/{{Munich}}'' in 2005, Steven Spielberg made the movie in a remarkably short period of time, with only nine months passing between him buying the screenplay and the movie's first press screening. This is all the more impressive when you consider he was in post-production of ''Film/ReadyPlayerOne2018'' at the same time.

* ChristmasRushed: Like ''Film/{{Munich}}'' in 2005, Steven Spielberg made the movie in a remarkably short period of time, with only nine months passing between him buying the screenplay and the movie's first press screening. This is all the more impressive when you consider he was in post-production of ''Film/ReadyPlayerOne'' at the same time.

* SpiritualSuccessor: to both ''Film/AllThePresidentsMen'' (with which it shares both a setting and the RealLife character of Ben Bradlee) and ''Film/{{Spotlight}}'' (with whom it shares a co-screenwriter in Josh Singer)

The movie is dedicated to the memory of Creator/NorahEphron.

* ChristmasRushed: Like ''Film/{{Munich}} in 2005, Steven Spielberg made the movie in a remarkably short period of time, with only nine months passing between him buying the screenplay and the movie's first press screening.

[[caption-width-right:350:]]

The movie will be given a limited release on December 13, 2017 before opening wide on January 12, 2018. The trailer can be seen [[https://youtu.be/nrXlY6gzTTM here]].

'''The Post''' is a 2017 drama directed by Creator/StevenSpielberg and starring Creator/MerylStreep, Creator/TomHanks, and [[AllStarCast a slew of well-known character actors]] [[HeyItsThatGuy you probably recognize from TV]]. It tells the [[BasedOnATrueStory true story]] of how Kay Graham, publisher of the Washington Post, along with editor Ben Bradlee, defied the White House to publish the leaked government documents later known as the Pentagon Papers, which detailed how the government had spent years misleading the public about the Vietnam War.