The Post : Empire of Phones - Fri, Jun 12, 2026
dilemma between obedience to the law or to reason
freedom of press
a bit of women power
Synopsis :
in 1971, top secrets document regarding the Vietnam War have been leaked, reporters from the Washington post get their hands on them,
the movie explore how this situation came to be and what Katherine, CEO of the journal decides to with them.
This situation result in a huge conflict of interest, she is on one hand, friend with someone deeply engaged with the lied exposed in these documents, but also dislike the current administration that the reveal might weaken, she is in the process of of launching the company on the NY Stock Exchange, and need to rassure potential investors, but is also in a rough spot where the journal is considered local and irrelevant on a global scale.
revealing the document might change that, by allowing the Washington Post to gain a lot of traction but can also result in major legal damage to the company, frightening investors.
On top of that, the Nixon administration is trying to censor press, and publishing the documents would be a way to assert the press right to publish the truth. Finally her own situation is threatened as it is revealed that publishing the document might constitute a direct violation of a court ruling and end up in the company being closed, and her being imprisoned.
Analysis.
Overuse of the phone.
over the show, characters spend most of their time speaking through wired phones,
this first of all showing the power it signifies, in the Washington post editorial room, only the most important, take the phones, and the president of the United states is only ever heard through phone call recordings.
The phone hides identities, and allow for anonymity.
The phone also isolate the protagonist during important decisions, by leaving her alone but still forced to answer.
Finally it show the urgency of the situation, the call is never repeated, and characters must answer immediately or might miss on crucial information.
phones are a central plot device of the post, here is a quick rundown of the main character relation with phones, (i really dont want to analyse every phone scene in the movie for now, maybe this summer).
We can see in the framing of discussion over phones how Katherine relationship with power evolves through the movie.
She is first not even included in the shot, the focus being on someone else reaction the the call.
the next phone she encounter in the one in the restaurant, where she has to ask for the permission of using it to the barmen. despite leaving her passive role in the last discussion she is still not acting freely.
the final call interrupts a reception she is having for a friend, she is forced to participate.
The phone is showing his might, taking over in person discussions because someone more important can now interrupt them at any time.
when she enters the room, someone else has picked up the phone, she is once again denied of her power, but she manages to overtake it and is finally alone for the crucial décision, managing the conversation and asking for opinions instead of having to endure them.
