Sundance ‘26: ‘SILENCED’ Relitigates the Amber Heard–Johnny Depp Trial Through the Lens of Weaponized Defamation Law

Historically, men would duel to the death when their reputations were tarnished, but international human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson argues that “too many men were dying that way, so they introduced defamation laws.” This was supposed to be a more civilized method—allow legal practitioners to decide what is and is not true regarding reputation and levy fees accordingly—but the rise of the circus of social media has thrown that presumption into question. This begs the question: can the legal system be influenced by social media, especially in an age of bots and the proliferation of the “manosphere”? And if so, how can one limit juror bias and land on anything resembling objective jurisprudence? This is a question that documentarian Selina Miles’ Silenced aims to answer, in part by relitigating the extremely high-profile Amber Heard vs. Johnny Depp abuse case.

“Defamation laws are being weaponized to silence women from speaking out against gender-based violence,” Robinson states, drawing on the history of the laws themselves, which date back to when women were considered the property of their fathers, and then husbands. When a woman loses a defamation case, even when they have overwhelming evidence of domestic abuse, they are never allowed to speak about the “allegation” again. This is seen in a case where a woman strangled by her husband leads to the defamation suit, the court debating the definition of “strangulation” rather than focusing on the agreed reality that the husband had indeed put his hands around his wife’s neck and squeezed. The fallout leads to seven years in the legal system and a never-ending series of appeals that run all the way to the Supreme Court.

The visibility of women’s domestic violence takes a sudden, but all-too-brief, turn with the #MeToo movement, set off by the fall of Harvey Weinstein. We see pained sound bites from various celebrities, speaking out without the fear of retribution, before, suddenly, backlash. With it, claims that the movement has gone too far, voiced by the likes of Andrew Tate, Piers Morgan, and Joe Rogan. This leads to an “avalanche” of defamation suits, most notably Johnny Depp suing the London-based Sun newspaper for calling him a “wife beater.”

Although this trial was explored in the mostly-reviled 2003 Netflix docuseries Depp v. Heard, Miles’ documentary takes a look at the larger sociopolitical and cultural context surrounding this case. Despite Heard having 14 pieces of documented evidence and winning one suit against defamation in Europe, she must undergo a secondary claims trial in the United States. The message remains clear: to levy an accusation at a powerful man means not just reputational damage for the alleged victim but monetary punishment as well.

But this is not just a movie about Depp v. Heard. It’s much more far-reaching than that, compiling its case with overwhelming evidence like a practiced litigator, and Miles makes a compelling argument. Silenced draws into question not just these celebrity cases but those in the highest offices: Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump, the latter of whom was convicted of sexual abuse before being elected president again. And that’s not even mentioning his very public relationship with known child predator Jeffrey Epstein. The sad, single, indisputable fact seems to remain true: even in the aftermath of #MeToo, we as a society do not care about the stories of survivors of sexual assault. Silenced hopes to move the dial by speaking out.

CONCLUSION: Selina Miles’ Silenced examines how defamation laws are weaponized against women who speak out about abuse, turning high-profile trials into warnings. It’s clear-eyed, well-presented, and refuses to stay quiet.