On the Basis of Sex

On the Basis of Sex (2018) is Mimi Leder's biographical drama you can watch online on iFILM. Felicity Jones steps into the shoes of a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg, years before she became a Supreme Court icon.

It is the late 1950s, and Ruth is one of only a handful of women at Harvard Law, where the dean bluntly asks why she's taking a seat that belongs to a man. Degree in hand, she still can't land a single job at a New York firm. Her opening arrives much later through an unglamorous tax case: a male caregiver denied a deduction the law reserved for women. Ruth and her husband Marty, played by Armie Hammer, realize this odd little appeal could crack a century of gender bias baked into the courts. Kathy Bates and Justin Theroux round out her allies and adversaries.

The screenplay came from Ginsburg's own nephew, Daniel Stiepleman, and the real Justice appears in the closing shot. The film leans on patient, granular legal craft rather than big speeches, which makes it one for viewers fascinated by how the law actually gets rewritten. Stream On the Basis of Sex (2018) online on iFILM.