Streaming: Netflix
Warnings:
Sexual Abuse
Violence
Graphic Imagery
Explicit Language
Rating: TV-MA
The Most Hated Woman in America is a biographical drama about the life of Madelyn Murray O’Hair, the activist and founder of the nonprofit American Atheists. Written and directed by Tommy O’Haver, the film premiered at South by Southwest in 2017 and was later released to Netflix. The Most Hated Woman in America stars a long list of recognizable actors, Melissa Leo, Devin Taylor Freeman, Peter Fonda, Sally Kirkland, Rory Cochrane, Josh Lucas, Adam Scott, Juno Temple and Vincent Kartheiser. The film has a mix of average reviews, it didn’t quite meet the expectations that most audiences were hoping for. The acting, cinematography, and screenplay are okay elements of the film but it’s not something that will shock or provoke any type of thought or inspiration.
The concept of The Most Hated Woman in America is interesting enough but unfortunately the film doesn’t dig deep to the point that the audience is surprised or even stays engaged. The Most Hated Woman in America makes the film seem as if that it’s going to be getting into more of the details about how Madelyn Murray O’Hair became who she was, and it seems to only mention that part of her life. Ultimately the film didn’t paint Madelyn as an inspirational figure, instead it painted her as a person who used to care about something only to become greedy and misguided. She is an important figure within the history of religious freedom in the United States and the film makes her less inspirational and more like a criminal. It is necessary for the film to portray some things it did to examine her complexity as a person, but the film didn’t give the audience a chance to care for her. It was mostly in result of bad writing and direction, the film should have gone a different route and focused more on religious freedom to become a more interesting and inspirational film.
The acting isn’t anything special, there is nothing that stands out to make the acting memorable or even contemplative. It is unfortunate that the acting falls short but truly, it’s in result of bad writing and direction. The film doesn’t allow the audience to care about the characters therefore everything that happens in the film makes the audience wonder why they’re even watching the film in the first place. Nothing that the actors do makes the film extraordinary which adds to the reason there is a lack of positive reviews for this film. Variety gave the film a negative review stating that it, “Seems to fall right where you’d expect: slightly better than your average TV movie, while not as good as your typical theatrical release.” This analysis is completely correct especially when considering the talented cast.
The cinematography is something that is done well for The Most Hated Woman in America. The cinematography was executed by Armando Salas who is also known for Ozark, Mr. Mercedes, and Six. The cinematography seemed to be the only element of the film that carried the story along well, it is also the only reason why the film is slightly better than a TV movie. Unfortunately, this element cannot carry a film on its own, so the film still doesn’t capture the audience in the way it was intended to.
The Most Hated Woman in America made the audience hate Madelyn Murray O’Hair more. The portrayal of her as an activist was unconvincing and made her seem like someone who just talks a lot with accurate facts. Alongside her unfortunate character depiction, she wasn’t portrayed as a lovable or kind person, the film just made her seem like a criminal who dug her own grave. The Most Hated Woman in America doesn’t give O’Hair the justice she deserves as a historical activist for religious freedom, and it is truly disappointing. If you want to learn more about Madelyn Murray O’Hair’s story, I highly recommend doing research on your own and avoiding this film all together.