Inside the Secretive Private Screening of Anti-Biden Movie, 'My Son Hunter'
https://www.newsweek.com/inside-secretive-private-screening-anti-biden-movie-my-son-hunter-1738304
Some of Hollywood's politically conservative insiders — a small group in famously liberal Tinseltown — gathered Wednesday for a secretive invitation-only screening of My Son Hunter, a film that promotes the accusation that President Joe Biden profited from his son's allegedly dubious dealings with foreign powers.
Among those attending the gathering at a private screening room in Los Angeles were Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman star Dean Cain and Nick Searcy, star of TV's Justified. Some others said they did not want their attendance revealed, fearing it might hurt their careers.
The secrecy underlined what right-wingers say is an atmosphere of fear over expressing conservative views in Hollywood.
"I don't believe any voice should be held down in America, as the left is doing," the film's director Robert Davi, a veteran tough guy actor, told Newsweek. "In Hollywood today, most conservatives are afraid to speak up. That has got to change."
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One producer at the screening, whose credits include Game of Thrones, The Bourne Legacy and Moneyball, asked that his name not be used. He told Newsweek, "I really enjoyed the film. It's a shame I can't tell most of my colleagues about it, though. Hollywood is in such a hyper-cancel mode today."
The online trailer for My Son Hunter has been viewed more than 2.6 million times and has prompted scorn from liberals. The Guardian's Emma Brockes called it "a piece of political porn dedicated to animating the wildest fringes of Trump chat-room banter."
Commenting after seeing the trailer, James West of Mother Jones wrote: "As incredulous as I was, I'm sorry to confirm it's real." Summarizing, West wrote: "Pass the popcorn, and then the vomit bag."
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My Son Hunter is a narrative film and is intentionally humorous, including animated interludes and characters speaking directly to the audience in a technique similar to the hit TV show, The Office. At Wednesday's screening, the audience chuckled at the start of the film where a disclaimer says: "This is not a true story. Except for all the facts."
Attendees at the screening gave the movie a standing ovation and praised producers Phelim McAleer and Anne McElhinney for their courage to make it.
Newsweek was among the few news outlets to attend Wednesday's event.
In an early scene, the film pokes fun at the media by showing a 2019 Black Lives Matter disturbance with cars and buildings ablaze while — thick smoke notwithstanding — a news anchor reports on the "mostly peaceful BLM protests" and implores the on-scene journalist to ask those participating about their "feelings."