GFF Erin Brockovich

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GFF 2026 - Erin Brockovich

“Change is an opportunity in disguise.” – Erin Brockovich (the real one)

Steven Soderbergh’s 2000 biographical legal drama titled after the very woman it is about, is a classic David vs. Goliath tale of an ordinary person – a single mother, twice divorced – fighting for justice and changing the world.

Erin Brockovich is the story of how a regular woman went from secretary to paralegal, to activist and advocate, and heroically made the impossible possible for a community of people suffering from the malpractices and corruption of a corporation.

Erin Brockovich (the real person and the character portrayed by Julia Roberts) initiated a legal case against Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) due to the Hinkley ‘groundwater contamination incident’. PG&E, like many massive corporations around the world, did not care much about the environment or regular people, and how their work would affect either… and so, dumped approximately 370 million gallons (that’s equivalent to around 19,000 swimming pools) of chromium-tainted wastewater, contaminating and polluting the groundwater around the town of Hinkley, California.

Erin B began an investigation into the health impacts of the water contamination (after a car accident that produced an incredible opportunity for her to begin working at Ed Masry’s legal office…) and it bloomed into a project of passion for her. Erin travelled around the Hinkley area near PG&E plants and dumping sites, and connected with the families affected by the pollution, building her case bit by bit. She became the voice of the silent victims of a huge corporation’s environmental damage and villainy.

The class-action lawsuit put in motion by Brockovich was settled in 1996 for $333million after years of work and deliberation with PG&E. This was the largest class-action settlement in the history of the United States at the time!

Upon its release in 2000, the film was #1 in the box office for three weeks, beating out the likes of Final Destination and High Fidelity, and grossed over $250million past its $52million budget. The reception of Erin Brockovich was so overwhelmingly positive by audiences and critics alike that the film garnered five Academy Award nominations, including noms for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, and landed Julia Roberts a Best Actress Win.

The movie was successful on other fronts too; Erin Brockovich was Soderbergh’s first film where the female protagonist appears in every scene; Julia Roberts’ portrayal of Erin B made her the first woman in the industry to break $20million for her role, AND crowned her the first actress to win Best Actress at the Academy Awards, SAG Awards, BAFTAs, Critic’s Choice Awards, and Golden Globes, for the same performance. The film also of course skyrocketed the real Erin’s life and career into new horizons – she has written several books, had many TV appearances, and continued to fight for justice through other legal cases against corrupt corporations and advocating for consumers (and she can even say she’s acted in an Oscar-nominated film alongside a brilliant Oscar-winning actress, in her role as Julia the Waitress in Erin Brockovich). Talk about female empowerment!

What makes Erin Brockovich work so well as a film is that it’s not just a traditional courtroom drama centred solely on institutional corruption, but rather it’s a heartfelt story of a “kick-a** broad” (as said by Susannah Grant, writer of the film) trying to make a difference, while juggling personal hardships of failed marriages and single-motherhood. It perfectly balances the emotional stakes of Brockovich’s personal life and new-found work life where she is striving to be taken seriously, with her tireless efforts to bring justice to innocent families in Hinkley. Producer Carla Santos Shamberg met the real Erin Brockovich by chance (they went to the same chiropractor) and has said “It seemed incredible that this twice-divorced woman with three young children, who had no money, no resources, and no formal education, had single-handedly put this case together. I thought she seemed like the perfect role model for the new millennium.”

The film, and Erin B’s life, is a true, feel-good story of justice and winning – something that we as audiences can definitely appreciate, especially in times of inequality, and political and social unrest. Erin’s efforts feel as needed and genuine now, 26 years after the film premiered, as they did in the 90’s or 2000’s.

Brockovich continues fighting injustice, acting as “an advocate for awareness, the truth, and a person’s right to know”, and the film version of her continues inspiring audiences to seek the truth, make change, and take power.

Erin Brockovich is the closing film of the GFF26 Retrospective “Truth to Power”, a programme of free screenings focusing on filmmakers who have created powerful films about injustice and corruption and the seeking of truth. The programme started with All the President’s Men, the film that inspired Steven Soderbergh when making Erin Brockovich, highlighting the power and importance of films like these for future generations of audiences and filmmakers.

By Julia, Youth Board Member and GFF Young Ambassador
Feb 2026

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