The Writers Strike has proven that they are not willing to stand down while other people benefit from their work. Writing is one of the most important tools in storytelling. It has the ability to make or break a film. In accordance, we decided to compile some films that showcase why it is important to continue paying writers a good wage because they are the ones working hard behind the scenes to make the magic happen on screen.
Writers’ Guild of America, or the WGA, had taken umbrage to the set of instructions that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) had come up with when it came to wages, health insurance and pension. While most of the writers covered by the Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) work for broadcast television, this agreement doesn’t take into account projects directly released on streaming platforms. Thus the writers have created specific proposals that the AMPTP must accept before they stop the strike.
Without any further ado, check out these films to see how good writing can take over an entire film.
Movies That Prove Why the Writers Strike 2023 is Important
Malcolm and Marie
While Sam Levinson may be coming down from the catastrophe that is The Idol, his previous work Malcolm and Marie is a world of lyrical ingenuity. Following a couple coming back from an awards ceremony, the film explores their tumultuous relationship and the conversations surrounding the creation of art. Even though Levinson is not a person of colour, he manages to encompass certain experiences in shocking detail. The writing is quick, intelligent and fast-pacing.
There are absolutely no breaks. Viewers can stop and pause to figure out exactly how intelligent the dialogue is, and it deserves that kind of mental energy. If someone is looking to understand how they can electrify a scene even with two people, then this film is for them. It is entirely monochrome, giving the writing even more opportunity to shine through. Malcolm and Marie is streaming on Netflix.
Trial of the Chicago 7
Political writing is always difficult to nail because of its sensitivity and cultural polarity. However, this film embraces all the cultural discourse around it to create a film with such brilliant structure and framing that the actors don’t even have to put effort into embodying them. Aaron Sorkin is incredibly talented in creating characters that are distinctive from their first lines on the page, even in this movie, where the courtroom drama and academic energy are so palpable that the writing must be nailed to convey that sentiment.
Every dialogue is so well-measured and well-placed that it is difficult to imagine that it is not real. The suspension of disbelief is so strong in the writing, the messaging so subversive. It is an incredible film to study as a writer, which makes us understand why the Hollywood Writers strike is important. Trial of the Chicago 7 is streaming on Netflix.
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Everything Everywhere All at Once
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinart are so incredibly talented because this film doesn’t just operate on a single tangent. It grapples with multiple big ones that make it so interesting to watch. There is no way anyone can put this film in a specific box because the way it is written is so intelligent. The reason why it works so well is that even within the grand scheme of things, they haven’t managed to lose the heart of the story.
With pivotal scenes and absurdist imagery, their writing is the one thing that stays vulnerable and true throughout. It is a classic hero’s journey, but the twist in it is so fascinating that the conclusion isn’t a big conflict. The conclusion is the biggest reconciliation. Everything Everywhere All at Once is truly timeless because the themes explored in the script won’t change with time. Family, generational trauma and empathy are universal. This film is currently streaming on Sony LIV.
Good Will Hunting
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were so young when they wrote this extremely poignant story of a man coming of age. It is such a brutal indictment of the foster system in America, but it is also a heartfelt story about friendship, vulnerability, trauma and remorse. The characters are so wonderfully constructed, with the actors working in it incredibly talented too. It is amazing how these two people were able to tap into such a deep emotional reservoir to write this film.
The writing is such an important part of this movie because visually, the movie looks exactly the way the outside world would, but hitting just the right notes emotionally and giving the characters a chance to break down were elements executed incredibly well. Good Will Hunting is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Little Women
Greta Gerwig has proven just how great of a writer she is in Lady Bird. But her ability to adapt a screenplay in the way she did this film is truly iconic. Florence Pugh was explaining how rehearsals for the film were extremely intense because of the way the script was written. According to her, every single line, every time one of the characters talks over the other, and every time there is a slight delay, they are all marked down in the script.
This makes sense because the conversations are so crisp in the film. They are so well-choreographed that they look impromptu on screen. She has always been a good writer, but her ability to give every character their moment, the meat on the bones, but also tell such a poignant story of growing up is absolutely brilliant. She managed to make each of the four sisters their own main characters in the story. Little Women is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Marriage Story
How do you tell a story about divorce without making it seem like a catfight? Well, for Noah Baumbach, that means inserting a lot of love between the two characters that come through in the writing. He does such a brilliant job at exploring the roles that mothers and fathers take in this story, through an external character. Additionally, even though there are a lot of conflicts, there is an incredible moment of resolution that proves how the natural course of any conflict is to come back to equilibrium.
Apart from all of this academic acclaim, the film is just impeccably sad. Writing is a major part of that. It makes us feel every dialogue deeply, forcing us to think of these two people as actual people rather than monoliths. They have their depth and their flaws. It is incredibly brilliant. Marriage Story is currently streaming on Netflix.
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