The new political drama Gaslit pulls off a coup: not only does it find a different angle for a story that has been endlessly retold since 1973, it also gives Julia Roberts her most substantial role in two decades. This is the highest profile original offering to appear on the Starzplay streaming platform to date.
A seven-part adaptation of the first season of the Slow Burn podcast, Gaslit takes on the Watergate scandal. Roberts plays Martha Mitchell, the wife of Nixon’s former attorney-general, John Mitchell. Her easy charm and irrepressible forthrightness made her a valuable asset to the Republicans when it came to fundraising, but also a liability when she divulged political hearsay to the press or publicly opposed the party line on matters such as the Vietnam war. “I will say how I feel and if that doesn’t conform to the president’s message, so be it,” she boasts to a journalist.
All this candour is a cause of concern for John, played here by Sean Penn under a mass of prosthetics (the sad eyes are the only giveaway). As the head of the Committee to Re-elect the President it’s his responsibility to concoct a covert scheme to drag the Democrats through the mud.