My Review- Gaslit
Streaming on Stan
My Rating 8/10 for the series 10/10 for Julia Roberts performance as Martha Mitchell
Not being American I didn't really know anything about Martha Mitchell even though many movies and television dramas concerning the Nixon era
and it's spectacular conclusion as a result of The Watergate wiretapping Scandal which led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon have been produced over the years.
Great movies like All the President's Men (1976) The Final Days (1989) Nixon (1995) Frost Nixon (2008) and The Post (2017) .
Why I mention movies is that this eight part Tele drama while being very interesting with a story that primarily concerns Martha wife of John
Mitchell the 67th Attorney General of the United States who advocated the use of wiretapping without court orders would I think have made a wonderful feature movie.
With two brilliant performances from Julia Roberts as Martha and an unrecognisable Sean Penn as John N. Mitchell in two of their finest career defining roles .
Julia as the outspoken Martha Washington who wasn't afraid to tell the world about the deception ,lies and the scapegoating of the Nixon Administration.
The fashionable term used today to gaslight is a perfect title for this series as Martha Washington was definitely a victim of gaslighting- defined as
referring to a specific type of manipulation where the manipulator is trying to get someone else (or a group of people) to question their own reality, memory or perceptions. And it's always a serious problem, according to psychologists.
Martha was certainly abused physically and mentally especially by her husband which led to substance abuse and her loss of any credibility or reputation.
The harrowing somewhat over the top episode 7 titled Year of the Rat is very powerful .It takes place as all hell breaks loose between Martha and John plus we witness the despicable Gordon Liddy going insane in his solidarity confinement.
Another fine performance in Gaslit from British actor Dan Stevens who portrays John Dean who served as White House Counsel under Nixon and was involved in The Watergate cover up. It's hard to imagine Dan Stevens as the young Matthew in series 1 of Downton Abbey.
Gaslit is a very interesting story based on the podcast Slow Burn by Leon Neyfakh.
