History Film / ThePost

''The Post'' is a 2017 [[HistoricalFiction historical 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.

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

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

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_post.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Find those pages!]]

* 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 [[MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot discovering a break-in]] at the [[{{Scandalgate}} Watergate]] Hotel. You can practically hear the guard say, “here we go again!”

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0vm9aq1.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Find those pages!]]

-->'''Kay Graham:''' ''Do you have the Papers?''
-->'''Ben Bradlee:''' ''({{beat}}) [[WhamLine Not yet.]]''

* ContinuityNod: With ''Film/AllThePresidentsMen''; see “SequelHook”, below.

* EnemyMine: The Post finds itself on the same side as their major rivals at the Supreme Court hearing, as freedom of the press affects all of them.

* AsHimself: [[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon President Nixon]] is seen through the window of the White House, disparaging ''The Washington Post'' and ''The New York Times'' on his secret Oval Office recordings (WordOfGod confirms they used the real deal.[[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/post-steven-spielberg-tom-hanks-meryl-streep-unveil-at-first-screening-1060135]]). He makes a remarkably effective villain, despite being only tangentially related to the Pentagon Papers themselves.

** Kay explains to her daughter that her father (one of the original owners) ceded his leadership to his son-in-law (Kay's late husband) and that it was taken for granted that Kay would stay back and raise the kids while he ran the paper.

* WarIsHell: It's safe to say that the film is heavily critical of the Vietnam War, noting how the U.S. Government knew it was unwinnable and that soldier's were dying as a result.

* AsHimself: [[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon President Nixon]] is seen through the window of the White House, disparaging ''The Washington Post'' and ''The New York Times'' on his secret Oval Office recordings (WordOfGod confirms hey used the real deal.[[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/post-steven-spielberg-tom-hanks-meryl-streep-unveil-at-first-screening-1060135]]). He makes a remarkably effective villain, despite being only tangentially related to the Pentagon Papers themselves.

* AsHimself: [[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon President Nixon]] is seen through the window of the White House, disparaging ''The Washington Post'' and ''The New York Times'' on his secret Oval Office recordings (WordOfGod confirms he used the real deal.[[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/post-steven-spielberg-tom-hanks-meryl-streep-unveil-at-first-screening-1060135]]). He makes a remarkably effective villain, despite being only tangentially related to the Pentagon Papers themselves.

* AsHimself: [[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon President Nixon]] is seen through the window of the White House, disparaging ''The Washington Post'' and ''The New York Times'' on his secret Oval Office recordings (WordOfGod confirms he used the real deal.[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/post-steven-spielberg-tom-hanks-meryl-streep-unveil-at-first-screening-1060135]). He makes a remarkably effective villain, despite being only tangentially related to the Pentagon Papers themselves.

* CharacterAsHimself: Or at least presented as such. [[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon President Nixon]] is seen through the window of the White House, disparaging ''The Washington Post'' and ''The New York Times'' on what would appear to be 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 UsefulNotes/RichardNixon (likely [[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.

** Kay explains to her daughter that her father (one of the original owners) ceded his leadership to his son-in-law (Kay's late husband) and that it was taken for granted that Kay would stay back and raise the kids while he ran the magazine.

** Men subordinate to Kay even talk to her in the manner they would a secretary, not THEIR BOSS.

* 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).

* ShoutOut: at one point Tom Hanks's Ben Bradlee is seen with his feet placed on his desk in a manner [[https://twitter.com/awards_watch/status/929390880418447360 nearly identical]] to Jason Robards in ''Film/AllThePresidentsMen''.

''The Post'' is a 2017 [[HistoricalFiction historical 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.

* AlanFridge: Bagdikian refuses to name Dan Ellsberg as the source of the Pentagon Papers, but is advised that ''The Washington Post'' could be held in contempt of court if he is the same source used by ''The New York Times''. The use of anonymous sources is also a much larger plot point in ''AllThePresidentsMen''.
* CharacterAsHimself: Or at least presented as such. [[RichardNixon President Nixon]] is seen through the window of the White House, disparaging ''The Washington Post'' and ''The New York Times'' on what would appear to be his secret Oval Office recordings. He makes a remarkably effective villain, despite being only tangentially related to the Pentagon Papers themselves.
* ContinuityNod: With ''AllThePresidentsMen''; see “SequelHook”, below.

* 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 of the same magnitude. But as the audience already knows (and is revealed at the very end), Watergate is just around the corner….
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Everyone, but special note should be given to RichardNixon (likely [[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.

* LocalAngle: Running just under the surface is the tension of Bradlee wanting to raise ''The Washington Post'' beyond being just a “local paper” (albeit for Washington, D.C.) to the national profile of ''The New York Times'', versus 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 and the setting of all credits in Helvetica[[note]]technically Neue Helvetica — not released until 1983 — but close enough[[/note]] solidifies it as this.

** Kay wonders if something "catastrophic" could happen in the seven days after the company goes public, thus risking the paper's funding. Like say, the Washington Post getting copies of the Pentagon Papers, thus becoming part of the injunction aginst the New York Times?
** At the end, Kay and Ben are relieved they won't have to go through anything like this again. Cue the Watergate break-in.

The Post is a 2017 [[HistoricalFiction historical 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.

[[https://in.bookmyshow.com/mumbai/movies/the-post/ET00064848m,mjjj The Post]] is a 2017 [[HistoricalFiction historical 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.

[[https://in.bookmyshow.com/mumbai/movies/the-post/ET00064848'''The Post'']] is a 2017 [[HistoricalFiction historical 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.

[[https://in.bookmyshow.com/mumbai/movies/the-post/ET00064848]]'''The Post''' is a 2017 [[HistoricalFiction historical 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.

'''The Post''' is a 2017 [[HistoricalFiction historical 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.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Regarding freedom of the press, the importance of the public knowing the truth, and the responsibility of standing up to official malfeasance. Those reviewing the film tend to draw the obvious parallels between RichardNixon and DonaldTrump, although the film would arguably have been just as timely during the [[BarackObama Obama administration]] and the controversy over government whistleblowers Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden.