The story is a story written by Jennifer at the age of 13 to make her story with two schools in the school, where her mother discovers that story seems to be somewhat confusing. Jennifer returns to the horse farm to try to reconcile her version of the truth.
"The Tale" is a push, then, to disseminate a hard truth - and by extension an argument for confronting the reality of abuse and abusers, no matter how painful that process might be. And it's effective. Frighteningly, unforgettably so.
The film feels like [Jennifer Fox is] taking us on a journey of self-exploration without a foregone conclusion, which makes the end result both satisfying and not satisfying, much like real life.
In a performance that ranks among the best I've seen in any film (theatrical or otherwise) this decade, Laura Dern essentially stands in for Fox... a beautifully nuanced portrayal of a smart, accomplished, independent woman.
Please do not call The Tale "a #MeToo movie." It's reductive. And this beautiful, gripping, disturbing film deserves to be looked at with as much nuance as it offers. It's not a damned hashtag-anything movie.
The film is, necessarily, shocking but Fox handles what must have been difficult emotional material for her in a cool and responsible way that makes the message she delivers all the more devastating.