It stars Meryl Streep as Katharine Graham, the publisher of the Washington Post, and Tom Hanks as Ben Bradlee, the longtime executive editor of The Washington Post, with Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford, David Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Carrie Coon, Alison Brie, and Matthew Rhys in supporting roles.

Although she lacks journalistic and business experience, she hopes to take the company public and secure investment for higher-quality news of national importance.

She personally appoints the bullish Ben Bradlee as the Post's executive editor as he agrees with her vision, but her male-dominated board still view her as a housewife in over her head.

McNamara, one of these friends, tells Graham that an "unflattering" story about him will be published in The New York Times—the first of Sheehan's scoops from Ellsberg's documents.

As the Post's editors discuss how they might pursue the story further, an anonymous woman leaves one hundred pages of the leaked documents on a reporter's desk.

However, Bradlee argues that they have a strong public interest defense, and it could transform the Post into the important journalistic institution that Graham had been dreaming of.

The documents also revealed that his own circle of elite D.C. friends, including John F. Kennedy, lied to him to garner sympathetic coverage; he argues that Graham's own friendships with figures like McNamara should not influence her decision.

The Post's lawyers panic—it puts Graham and Bradlee in contempt of court under the original injunction, and opens them to further criminal liability under the Espionage Act.

[16] In February 2017, Steven Spielberg cancelled The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara with The Weinstein Company after a casting setback, and consequently opened his schedule to other potential films to direct.

[5] The following month, it was announced that Spielberg was in negotiations to direct and produce the film, with Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks in talks for the roles of Katharine Graham and Ben Bradlee, respectively.

[26] On June 6, 2017, it was announced that the project, retitled The Papers, would also star Alison Brie, Carrie Coon, David Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Paulson, Jesse Plemons, Matthew Rhys, Michael Stuhlbarg, Bradley Whitford, and Zach Woods.

[40] The trailer for The Post premiered exclusively on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, on November 7, 2017,[41] and the film's poster, designed by BLT Communications, was released the next day.

[46] The film had its wide release alongside the openings of The Commuter, Paddington 2 and Proud Mary, and was projected to gross around $20 million from 2,819 theaters over the weekend.

The website's critical consensus reads, "The Post's period setting belies its bitingly timely themes, brought compellingly to life by director Steven Spielberg and an outstanding ensemble cast.

"[55] David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film an A− and wrote: "Nobody needs to be reminded that history tends to go in circles, but The Post is so vital because it captures the ecstasy of trying to break the chain and bend things towards justice; defending the fundamental tenets of the Constitution hasn't been this much fun since Hamilton.

"[57] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times awarded the film an NYT Critic's Pick with a strong acknowledgment of Spielberg as director saying, "Mostly, (the Post decision to publish) went down fast, a pace that Mr. Spielberg conveys with accelerated rhythms, flying feet, racing cameras and an enjoyably loose approach to the material.

With his virtuosic, veteran crew, Mr. Spielberg paints the scene vividly and with daubs of beauty; most notably, he creates distinct visual realms for the story's two main overlapping, at times colliding, worlds.

[59] The film portrays the original role that The New York Times had in breaking the Pentagon Papers and then emphasizes The Washington Post's subsequent involvement.

The 1972 Pulitzer jury of journalists noted in their recommendation not only the significance of Daniel Ellsberg's Pentagon Papers leak, but also that of Times reporters Neil Sheehan, Hedrick Smith, Fox Butterfield and E. W. Kenworthy, and stated that their effort was "a combination of investigative reporting, analysis, research, and writing — all of which added to a distinctly meritorious public service, not only for readers of The Times but also for an entire nation.

"[61] Goodale noted in an article for The Daily Beast that the Times published the Papers after Ellsberg had leaked them to Sheehan, and further stated that the film "creates a false impression that the Post was a major player in such publication.

"[24] On PBS NewsHour, Goodale further said, "Although a producer has artistic license, I think it should be limited in a situation such as this, so that the public comes away with an understanding of what the true facts are in this case .