Chris Setzer

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What an insightful film! “This Changes Everything,” is a documentary directed by Tom Donahue that goes into how women face gender inequality and underrepresentation within Hollywood, and how this negatively impacts our culture today. This film came out in 2018, and has been changing the game ever since by bringing in some of the top female actresses and film makers within the industry, such as Reese Witherspoon, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Geena Davis, to discuss their personal experiences with discrimination as women within the film industry. Winning awards such as "Best Documentary" at the Chicago International Film Festival, and the "People's Choice Award" at Toronto International Film Festival, this documentary is absolutely incredible with a powerhouse of talent. One by one we are provided deep and at times dark insight into some of the top actresses, female producers, and female directors' personal stories, and what they have encountered during their times working within the industry. The film starts out by introducing the audience to the impact of film and visual representation of media today. You immediately feel drawn in as you realize how many of the things that are being mentioned are true. We are painted a picture of how it is to be a little girl growing up, watching the tv and feeling underrepresented. What does that do to them and their mindset of the world? What does that do to how they think about themselves? Women have throughout time been over sexualized in film, shown to be weak or in need of a man, and have been given lesser roles or less roles at all in comparison to their male counterparts. The film even goes to make a point, to say that in the movie “Finding Nemo,” you’ll see that men are the majority of the voice actor or actress roles. They are all fish, yet the voices are mostly men. This fact was such an eye opener for me. The composer, Allison Piccioni, did an absolutely phenomenal job with the score of this film. Throughout, she is always driving the story forward, keeping the audience drawn in with beautiful music to transition from scene to scene. The editing in the documentary was very intelligently performed by Jasmin Way to connect the audience with the right mindset to understand the oppression that women face in Hollywood. We are given facts throughout the film to help support the audience with a better understanding of the issue at hand, and to equip them with the knowledge along the way. One of my favorite parts of this film was when they went into the influence of movies like “Brave” and “The Hunger Games” on little girls taking archery. You’ll have to actually watch to find out, because I’m not going to spoil it here! When you first realize how much women have been discriminated against within the industry, it makes you understand why it is important for this change to take place, so that we may create a better tomorrow. All in all, I give this documentary a very solid 8.5/10. The director did an excellent job at lining up one of the longest lists of prestigious female talent that has probably ever been in one film or documentary at a time. Their stories were heartfelt and deep. The cinematography throughout the film perfectly captures the emotions of each character as they spoke, and the composition made you feel their pain. This is a must watch for anyone working within or around the film industry, or pretty much any industry for that matter, because it applies across the board. If you love documentaries in general and want to help make the world a more inclusive and better place, this film is for you. I can not express this enough, give this film a watch!!