Denial (2016)

Not all opinions are of equal weight. Whether it is climate change, sexual assault, or, as in this case, the Holocaust, there are those who try to discredit the truth by invoking the right of free speech, by gaslighting others into doubting what we know to be true. This is a misunderstanding of free speech. Yes you are free to be a bigot, a racist, an antisemite and to speak your vile views, but you aren't free from being called out on it, for having your lies rebuked. That is what Denial is about.

Based on the true story of scholar Deborah Lipstadt's experience of being sued for liable after she called out Holocaust denier David Irving, Denial gets into the historicity of the Holocaust of WWII, but it is even more than that. It is an exploration of the ways those who try to suppress knowledge, fact, academia, education, for whatever political position they are trying to advance, exploit the virtue of free speech and twist it into its opposite.

The film gets bogged down often in its arguments, both the actual argument (the film shows us just how boring real trials are and how they are nothing like the way TV portrays them) and it's own logical argument. Unfortunately director Mick Jackson doesn't often find artful ways to tell his story, instead just letting it be told. He has Rachel Weisz be utterly forthright but rarely engaging. His points are all there but he doesn't make it overly fun to watch. The film fortunately doesn't drag and there are beautiful, powerful moments. Weisz and Wilkinson visiting Auschwitz is remarkably potent. But often Jackson gets caught up in TV style drama like dragging out the verdict despite the fact that we all know what it was.

While not a perfect film, as a moral lesson Denial is dead on. We are all entitled to our opinions but we aren't entitle to our own facts. We must stand up to the deniers out there, especially when it touches on a subject as vile and dangerous as hate mongering.

Denial
Starring: Rachel Weisz, Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Spall
Director: Mick Jackson
Writer: David Hare