Jake Adelstein

Review: Snow White (2025) — A Bold, Beautiful Allegory for Our Times Disney’s latest retelling of Snow White isn’t just a fairytale—it’s a mirror held up to the fractured face of modern America. With stunning visuals, an earnest heart, and more than a little political spice, this Snow White becomes more than just a family film. It’s an allegory. A timely, fearless, and sharply observed one. At the center of the story is a new kind of heroine: kind but not naive, brave but not reckless. Think AOC with a tiara—articulate, compassionate, and unwilling to back down in the face of authoritarian vanity. She stands not just for what’s right, but for the possibility of rebuilding something better from the rubble. And then there’s the Evil Queen. Oh, the Evil Queen. She’s a pitch-perfect symbol of everything wrong in our times—vain, cruel, and desperate to hold onto power no matter the cost. Her obsession with control, wealth, and image—sound familiar?—makes her less of a fantasy villain and more of a composite sketch from cable news. The magic mirror here might as well be Twitter. The poisoned apple? A toxic brew of disinformation and fear. And the dwarves—renamed and reimagined as a diverse group of everyday heroes—represent the resistance: workers, thinkers, healers, dreamers. The kind of coalition it takes to stand up to tyranny. What’s so powerful is how subtly Disney weaves in this message. It’s not heavy-handed or preachy. It’s smart. Kids will enjoy the color and adventure, while adults will recognize the subtext: this is about a fight for the soul of a nation. Of course, it will probably send the MAGA faithful into another round of foam-mouthed outrage. But that’s not a flaw—it’s a feature. This Snow White is an a fable for the decent, the hopeful, the awake. In short: a classic tale, retold with urgency and elegance, for a world that badly needs it. Bring your kids. Bring your friends. And bring your conscience. Five stars.

This documentary feels like a political suspense thriller. But it's so much more. I am biased in the sense that I have reporting on the events in the film--including the legal battle for almost 8 years. It was in 2017 that I first met Shiori Ito, a woman who I have come to admire greatly for her courage and her journalism. Mari Yamamoto and I had been writing about Japan’s dismal approach to handling sexual assault cases and the long-overdue discussions about revising the country’s antiquated penal code for The Daily Beast. The laws governing rape had barely changed in nearly a century, and Japan’s conviction rate for sexual assault cases was depressingly low. By some estimates only 4% of rapes were actually reported to the authorities. The police actively discouraged reporting. Survivors were often silenced, shamed, or discouraged from pursuing legal action, and those who did come forward were met with resistance from law enforcement and the judicial system. On average, prosecutors dropped 50% or more of the cases that did finally make it to their desks. We had just published a long explainer in The Daily Beast called “Does Japan Ever Convict Men For Rape?” It was in this context that I came across a series of articles in the weekly magazine Shukan Shincho detailing the case of Shiori Ito. It is Japan's lesser known investigative journalism periodical. I have written for them in the past as well. The well-reported story was grim: a young journalist drugged and raped by Noriyuki Yamaguchi, a powerful media figure with close ties to then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Even more disturbing was how the police had initially pursued the case, obtaining an arrest warrant for Yamaguchi, only to have the arrest suddenly quashed by a high-ranking government official. Then a political lackey of the Prime Minister scuttled the case, and the prosecutors dropped the ball. It was a blatant example of political interference in law enforcement, the kind of cover-up that reeked of abuse of power. And so I asked Shiori for an interview and with the help of the late editor, Christopher Dickey, we wrote what had happened. Other news outlets later followed up. There were always those who attacked Shiori Ito after she had the courage to hold a press conference and reveal her name. Some of them appeared to be connected to the extreme right. I suspect some were paid lackeys of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The movie is a very personal telling of how Shiori Ito experienced the events and their aftermath, but it is also an indictment of a system in Japan that fails to protect victims and can protect assailants if they are powerful. Keep in mind that recently a politician found guilty of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in Japan was given a suspended sentence. He will never go to jail.

There’s never been a more moving and thought-provoking TV drama about the lives and loves of Koreans under the Japanese Empire—and after. The Zainichi—are like the Jews of Japan and their history is unique. But how that story is told through the lives of complex characters is amazing. Historical drama with a heart. Mari Yamamoto, who has been a stellar friend and co-writer over the years, gives an incredible performance as Hana, one that will haunt the viewer as does the story of this drama. Give it time and you will be enriched. Like all good fairy tales there is also a moral to the story, if you search.

The film was released early in Japan. I watched it this morning (December 17) at 9:20 am. The 4th Matrix is not a reboot of the franchise but a nod to the original that gives fans a sense of closure that the ending lacked. A witty retread and great B grade Sci-Fi suspense thriller. It was nice to catch up with Mr. Anderson and Tiffany. Lower your expectations and you’ll enjoy it so much more.