Gillian Anderson Netflix True Story Drama Gives Iconic Moment Spotlight

Scoop on Netflix opens up in 2010 with security guarding a massive home in Manhattan. The viewers find themselves with one photographer outside, Jae Donnelly (Connor Swindells). He photographs a young girl leaving the house and then two men exit, who we discover are Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew.

We watch as the men walk a path along a lake, casually strolling, and the experience feels intimate, as if the two are close friends. Jae is snapping away all the while. 

Flash forward nine years and Scoop on Netflix takes us into the offices at the BBC newsroom of Newsnight. A fresh young producer, Sam McAllister (Billie Piper), is catching hell from her colleagues for never being in the office.

They clearly don’t respect her or what she does, and she makes the point that it is her job to be out of the office chasing down and securing leads. We see her spot Jae’s photograph of Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein and work to contact the photographer to get more information. 

By this time, we know that Epstein has been arrested and the world is wondering what role Prince Andrew had in Epstein’s island, in his proclivities for young girls, and in his friend’s scandals in general.

Scoop on Netflix focuses on how we find the answers to those questions. Sam contacts the Duke of York’s private secretary, Amanda Thirsk, who has been scrambling for a way to show the world what a wonderful man her boss is. Sam manages to secure a meeting with Amanda, where the two discuss Amanda’s concerns. 

Meanwhile, the lead presenter at Newsnight, Emily Matlis (Gillian Anderson), is tired of doing the same old stories everyone else is doing. She wants something with teeth, a breaking story that will knock her viewers on their butts.

Sam and Emily don’t have the best relationship as Sam is critical of Emily for resting on her laurels, but the program editor, Esme Wren, has a talk with the two women about doing what’s best for the show, which means learning to get along. They want a scoop, this Netflix film is telling us, and they’re on the verge of getting one. 

The movie unfolds in tight scenes filled with tension as we bounce back and forth among Sam, Emily, Amanda, and Prince Andrew. The prince, played by Rufus Sewell, is portrayed as a giant baby, coddled and cuddled by everyone around him, and seemingly completely oblivious as to what all the fuss is about.

Scoop on Netflix tells us that Andrew was the Queen’s favorite child, and he certainly acts like a spoiled brat even as a grown man. Meanwhile, Anderson and her co-stars are spectacular. 

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Watching Scoop on Netflix unfold as these extremely smart women come together to secure and complete an interview that ends up being beyond compelling as Andrew fumbles around his palace and Amanda worries over his reputation is nothing short of thrilling. At just over an hour and a half, this movie is worth catching when you’re in the mood for this kind of relentless intensity. Watch Scoop on Netflix when you get a chance.