After going through a pretty disappointing stack of movies that were released in the past year, I decided to pick up Molly’s Game, directed by Aaron Sorkin. I knew next to nothing about the movie aside from the fact that Jessica Chastain—one of my favorite actresses—plays the main character, Molly Bloom. The movie begins with 17 FBI agents breaking into Bloom’s Los Angeles apartment to arrest her for hosting the most exclusive poker game in the world.

      This fast-paced film grabbed my attention from the start and didn’t let me go until the credits started rolling. Seeing Bloom’s tragic beginnings had me rooting for her as she tries to gain control over her life. Moreso, watching her downward spiral play out right before your eyes will make you want to pull your hair out, feeling Bloom’s desperation as she tries to present her case to her new attorney, Charlie Jaffey (played by Idris Elba) to prove her innocence. The movie switches back and forth between Bloom detailing as much as she can remember about the origins of her poker game and how the events played out a decade prior to her arrest.

      Aside from its entertainment value, the message this film holds is what makes Molly’s Game so impactful. Throughout the film, as Bloom tells her story to Jaffey, more details about her past start to emerge, contradicting everything that Jaffey had learned through the tabloid news coverage. In a world where most of our news comes in spurts from various sources, and with some coverage being inaccurate or misleading, this film is a testament to the fact that there’s more to the stories we hear on a day-to-day basis. It takes a great film to remind us that we’re only scratching the surface of what we know.