The Loudest Voice is the dramatised account of the 20-year reign of Roger Ailes at Fox News - and the women who finally toppled his throne.
Oscar winner Russell Crowe won a 2020 Golden Globe for his unrecognisable performance as Ailes, which involved wearing a polyester-filled spandex bodysuit under his clothes, with his face encased in nearly 3kg of silicone and latex. The Loudest Voice was also nominated for Best Limited Series at the Golden Globes.
The series tracks the former CNBC president’s meteoric rise as he’s hired by Rupert Murdoch to establish a new cable channel aimed specifically at conservatives. As Fox News goes from strength to strength, Ailes sets about capitalising on 9/11 to push the network to the top of the ratings race, pit the might of his news empire against the Obama administration, and eventually, throw his weight behind the Trump campaign. In the process, he becomes known as the “de-facto leader of the Republican Party”.
Although the spotlight is on Crowe as Ailes, the story really belongs to the women in Ailes’s orbit. Oscar nominee Naomi Watts plays former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson, whose courage in taking on the monster made a large contribution to the #MeToo movement and blew the lid off the culture of silence around sexual harassment in the workplace, and the world. Binge The Loudest Voice now »
Watch the story from a different perspective in Bombshell, with John Lithgow as Ailes and Nicole Kidman as Gretchen Carlson, alongside Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly. Watch now »
More true crime movies
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
Ted Bundy was one of America’s most notorious killers. In this movie starring Zac Efron, his story is told from the perspective of his long-time girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer, who refused to believe he was a serial killer. Watch now »
Fruitvale Station
The heart-wrenching true story of Oscar Grant is told in this award-winning film. On New Years' Day 2009, a tragic series of events shatters his life and fractures his community. Fruitvale Station stars Michael B Jordan, who also starred in Creed: Rocky’s Legacy. Both movies were directed by Ryan Coogler. Watch now »
Skin
A white supremacist decides to leave hatred and violence behind. He reforms his life with the help of his new wife and a black activist. But his former gang members aren't too happy about his departure. It’s based on the story of former skinhead Bryon Widner and stars Jamie Bell. Watch now »
Bad Education
Roslyn Schools Superintendent Frank Tassone (Hugh Jackman) and his assistant Pam (Allison Janney) work together to put the district on the map. However, a school reporter uncovers an embezzlement scheme, which threatens their reign. Inspired by true events. Watch now »
The Case Against Adnan Syed
Inspired by the global hit podcast, Serial, this four-part retelling pieces together events that followed the 1999 disappearance of Hae Min Lee and tries to uncover if Adnan Syed is guilty of her murder. Was he a jealous teen? Or is there more to this?
Twenty years on, the documentary refocuses the narrative on the victim and asks the question - was justice served, or can new evidence cast a new light on the case? Watch now »
Crime documentaries
Untouchable: The Rise and Fall of Harvey Weinstein
Once a powerful titan in the film industry, now a convicted sex offender, Harvey Weinstein’s name is synonymous with the #MeToo movement.
This sweeping documentary pulls back the veil on Hollywood’s glamour, and reveals the ugly side of a business that owes its existence to beauty. It shows how all-powerful men like Weinstein call the shots – how they can make or break entire careers. And this doccie paints a picture of complicity from an entire industry. Watch now »
McMillion$
Get your Big Macs ready and get yourself comfy for one of the most bizarre large-scale crimes of the past few decades. The McDonald’s Monopoly game swept the US between 1989 to 2001, promising millions in prizes. But in all those years, virtually none of the winners were legitimate.
This six-part series tells the bizarre, riveting story of a massive fraud that involves organised crime, bags of cash, a tiny, foul-tempered dog and a mob widow. Watch now »
Someone to Blame: The Ahmed Timol Inquest
Hitting close to home, this award-winning documentary examines the inquest into the murder of anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Timol, who died in police custody in 1971.
The initial inquest ruled Timol’s death a suicide – in spite of evidence of police torture, and the fact that he was the 22nd person to die in police custody. His family never believed that he committed suicide, and 45 years after his death, a second inquest was held over 20 days. The details that emerged gripped the entire nation. Watch now »
Inside the Manson Cult: The Lost Tapes
The shocking, senseless and violent Manson Murders sent shock waves through the US in 1969. The rediscovery of documentary tapes shot after the gruesome murder of Sharon Tate and her friends offers us a glimpse into the Manson cult, and documents how cult members were indoctrinated. Along with the documentary footage from 1969 and 1973, there are recent interviews with survivors of the cult, too. Watch now »
The Scheme
The Scheme tells the revealing, no-holds-barred tale of Christian Dawkins, the young man at the centre of one of the biggest criminal cases in collegiate sports history, a basketball scandal that rocked America. Watch now »
Watch all this and more on Showmax from R49 per month » DM/ML
MTN subscribers can get Showmax Mobile plus 1GB for just R49 per month. That’s 10 hours to stream your favourite series, movies, kids’ shows and more. Find out more »
Comments
Scroll down to load comments...