1930s Hollywood is reevaluated through the eyes of scathing wit and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he races to finish “Citizen Kane.”
"Mank follows the writer behind Orson Welles’s classic Citizen Kane, the man who clacked out 'Rosebud' on a typewriter himself, Herman Mankiewicz (played by Gary Oldman). A judgy alcoholic, Mankiewicz 'races to finish the screenplay.' In gleaming black-and-white and in a cloud of cigar smoke, the social critic attempts to put William Hearst’s life into focus without putting a target on his back. Welles is played by The Souvenir’s Tom Burke. Amanda Seyfried plays the doe-eyed actress Marion Davies, William Hearst’s mistress, whom Charles Foster Kane’s second wife was allegedly based on. Emily in Paris star Lily Collins goes Hollywood, playing Mankiewicz’s secretary, Rita Alexander. The soundtrack is helmed by Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Citizen Kane won just one Oscar, for Best Original Screenplay, back in 1942. Given the state of movies this year, Mank very well may out–Citizen Kane Citizen Kane in the awards department." - Variety