Charlie Says (2018 film)

The film is based on the books, The Family, by Ed Sanders, and The Long Prison Journey of Leslie Van Houten, by Karlene Faith, Ph.D.

The film documents the work of Ms. Faith with the Manson women, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houten, at the California Institution for Women, in the mid-1970s.

It shows how Ms. Faith, as a young graduate student, helped the Manson women come to understand the magnitude of their crimes, and eventually renounce Charles Manson.

In January 2016, Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner were announced to be directing and writing a film based on the life and crimes of Charles Manson and his followers.[3]

In February 2018, the casting began, with Matt Smith cast to play Manson, and Hannah Murray, Odessa Young, Marianne Rendón, Merritt Wever, Carla Gugino, Kayli Carter and Suki Waterhouse among the supporting cast.[4] Chace Crawford and Sosie Bacon were cast in March 2018, with Gugino no longer set to star in the film.[5][6] Annabeth Gish joined the film in April.[7]

It had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 2, 2018.[8] Shortly after, IFC Films acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film.[9] It was released on May 10, 2019.[10]

On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 59%, based on 73 reviews, with an average rating of 5.90/10. The site's consensus states: "Charlie Says approaches its infamous subject from a welcome new angle, but suffers from a disappointing lack of depth in its treatment of the story".[11] On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 57 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[12]

• Official website
• Charlie Says at IMDb