The Accused: More Than Just a "Rape Movie"

Okay, so I finally got around to watching "The Accused" and I'm... unsettled. It's easy to write this off as some sensationalist '80s rape drama, and yeah, the central event is horrific and lingers. But what really got under my skin wasn't the act itself (though the direction of that scene is intentionally jarring and upsetting, which it should be), but the apathy of the bystanders. Kelly McGillis is solid as Kathryn Murphy, the DA, but honestly, Jodie Foster's Sarah Tobias steals every scene. It’s a raw, unflinching performance – and the film wisely avoids turning her into some saintly victim. She's flawed, she makes questionable decisions, and she's angry. That complexity made her far more believable and sympathetic than if they'd sanitised her character. It's not just what happened to her, it's the societal complicity, the little nods and winks that allow such a thing to occur. The film is less about the crime than the systemic issues that permit and, implicitly, even encourage it. What I found particularly interesting was the legal angle: going after the bystanders for incitement was a clever move, and one that forces us to confront our own potential roles in similar situations. Would we intervene? Would we be silenced by fear or social pressure? That’s the question that’s been gnawing at me since the credits rolled. It's definitely not an easy watch, but it's a worthwhile one. Anyone else find the contrast between Sarah’s fiery courtroom testimony and her quieter vulnerability in earlier scenes especially impactful? Interested to hear others' thoughts. One minor niggle, though: the film does occasionally veer into melodrama, particularly in the courtroom scenes. A little restraint there would have elevated it even further, I think. And maybe the ending felt a tad too neat, given the overall messy reality the film otherwise presents. Still, these are fairly minor quibbles considering the power of the movie's central message. It's stayed with me far longer than I expected.