''The Most Hated Woman in America'' is an American

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

Tommy O'Haver Tommy O'Haver (born October 24, 1968, Indianapolis, Indiana) is an American film director and screenwriter. He grew up in Carmel, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis. He graduated from Carmel High School and matriculated at Indiana University with ...

and written by O'Haver and Irene Turner. It stars

Melissa Leo Melissa Chessington Leo (born September 14, 1960) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and two Critics' Choice A ...

Madalyn Murray O'Hair Madalyn Murray O'Hair (née Mays; April 13, 1919 – September 29, 1995) was an American activist supporting atheism and separation of church and state. In 1963 she founded American Atheists and served as its president until 1986, after which he ...

. The film premiered at

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

on March 14, 2017. The film was released on March 24, 2017, by

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

Plot

In 1995,

is kidnapped along with her son Garth and granddaughter Robin by three men: David Waters, Gary Karr and Danny Fry. The three abductees recognize Waters. The scene shifts to the early 1960s. Madalyn has become a single mother of two sons, Garth and the older William J. "Billy Boy" Murray, Jr., and is a proud atheist, which outrages her Christian parents. Madalyn is outraged to learn that Billy is being forced to recite the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

in school, so she launches a campaign to ban

school prayer School prayer, in the context of religious liberty, is state-sanctioned or mandatory prayer by students in public schools. Depending on the country and the type of school, state-sponsored prayer may be required, permitted, or prohibited. Countries ...

, ultimately resulting in a

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

ruling making mandatory prayer in schools illegal. She quickly becomes labeled one of the most hated figures in America. She forms the atheist advocacy group

American Atheists American Atheists is a non-profit organization in the United States dedicated to defending the civil liberties of atheists and advocating complete separation of church and state. It provides speakers for colleges, universities, clubs, and th ...

, recruiting Garth and Billy. Billy's devotion to his mother destroys his relationship with his wife, and he becomes a bitter alcoholic after she divorces him. He eventually quits drinking and becomes a

born-again Christian Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sep ...

, causing a deep rift with Madalyn. Madalyn begins profiting from spirited debates with a local pastor, putting the money in

offshore accounts An offshore bank is a bank regulated under international banking license (often called offshore license), which usually prohibits the bank from establishing any business activities in the jurisdiction of establishment. Due to less regulation and ...

. She hires Waters to manage the American Atheists branch; he becomes her trusted ally, especially after he confides in her about having murdered someone as a young man. Eventually, Waters has a falling out with Madalyn and is fired from American Atheists. In 1995, he demands one million dollars from Madalyn, which she refuses. Waters devises the kidnapping as a way to get the money he feels she owes him. Reporter Jack Ferguson begins covering the kidnapping and questions Billy. He gets a sketch artist to draw a picture of Fry. Ferguson joins forces with Madalyn's assistant and they slowly unravel the plot. Back at the safe house, Karr kills Robin after she refuses his sexual advances. Panicked, Waters and Karr then kill Garth and Madalyn. Finally, Karr kills Fry after forcing him to dismember the bodies. Ferguson finally catches Waters and gets him to confess to the triple murder. Waters and Karr are both arrested and tried. Closing text reports that Karr received a life sentence; Waters received 68 years but died in prison in 2003. Billy now chairs the Religious Freedom Coalition and works to return prayer to public schools, and the American Atheists continues to exist.

Cast

, an atheist activist *

Josh Lucas Joshua Lucas Easy Dent Maurer (born June 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in various films, including ''American Psycho'' (2000), '' You Can Count on Me'' (2000), '' The Deep End'' (2001), '' A Beautiful Mind'' (200 ...

as David Waters, American Atheists' former manager who masterminds the kidnapping *

Michael Chernus Michael Louis Chernus (born August 8, 1977) is an American actor. He has acted on film, television, and the stage. He is perhaps best known for his role as Cal Chapman on the Netflix original comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013 ...

Jon Garth Murray Jon Garth Murray (November 16, 1954 – September 29, 1995) served as president of American Atheists, a non-governmental organization that lobbied on the separation of church and state. He was the second son of Madalyn Murray O'Hair, an activist ...

, Madalyn's loyal younger son ** Devin Taylor Freeman as teenage Jon Garth Murray * Rory Cochrane as Gary Karr, one of the Murray O'Hairs' kidnappers *

Vincent Kartheiser Vincent Paul Kartheiser (born May 5, 1979) is an American actor. He played Pete Campbell on the AMC television series ''Mad Men'', for which he received six Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a ...

as William J. "Billy Boy" Murray, Madalyn's elder son ** Andy Walken as Young William "Billy Boy" Murray *

Sally Kirkland Sally Kirkland (born October 31, 1941) is an American film, television and stage actress and producer. A former member of Andy Warhol's The Factory and an active member in 1960s New York avant-garde theater, she has appeared in more than 250 fi ...

as Lena Christina, Madalyn's mother * Adam Scott as Jack Ferguson, the reporter who first looks into the kidnapping * Juno Temple as Robin Murray O'Hair, Madalyn's devoted granddaughter and Bill's estranged daughter * Alex Frost as Danny Fry, one of the Murray O'Hairs' kidnappers * Brandon Mychal Smith as Roy Collier, Madalyn's right-hand man at American Atheists *

Peter Fonda Peter Henry Fonda (February 23, 1940 – August 16, 2019) was an American actor. He was the son of Henry Fonda, younger brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget Fonda. He was a prominent figure in the counterculture of the 1960s. Fond ...

as Reverend Bob Harrington *

Ryan Cutrona Ryan Cutrona (born July 29, 1949) is an American actor. Career Ryan Cutrona is an American actor best known for playing gruff authority figures and military men in both dramatic and comedic roles in films and on television. The second son of ...

as John Mays, Madalyn's father * Anna Camp as Mrs. Lutz, the schoolteacher of young William Murray who enforces prayers in class

Production

On July 8, 2015, it was reported that

would finance and release ''The Most Hated Woman in America'', a film dramatizing the life of

. It would be directed by

from his own script and star

as O'Hair. In March 2016,

, Rory Cochrane,

, Adam Scott, Juno Temple,

, Anna Camp,

, and Alex Frost joined the cast. On March 24, 2016, it was reported that ''The Most Hated Woman in America'' had begun filming in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

the previous week.

Release

The film had its world premiere at

on March 14, 2017. It was released on March 24, 2017, by

Critical reception

''The Most Hated Woman in America'' received mixed reviews from film critics. It holds a 36% approval rating on review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, based on 22 reviews, with a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

of 4.62/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film holds a rating of 41 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Peter Debruge of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' gave the film a negative review, writing: "Seems to fall right where you'd expect: slightly better than your average TV movie, while not as good as your typical theatrical release."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Most Hated Woman In America, The 2017 films 2017 drama films 2017 biographical drama films American biographical drama films Drama films based on actual events English-language Netflix original films Films directed by Tommy O'Haver Films produced by Elizabeth Banks Films scored by Alan Lazar Films about activists Films about families Films about kidnapping Films with atheism-related themes Films shot in Los Angeles Brownstone Productions films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films