The notion of a non-disclosure agreement is in itself a bit of a red flag. It’s often used in a negotiating process or to complete a legal agreement, yet it contends that whatever has gone on should remain secret, ostensibly to protect the parties involved. Yet it so rarely benefits all sides equally, or at all, and instead serves to exert power and fear over someone who has been made to feel like they have no other choice and this is likely the best deal they’re going to get. Miriam Shor and Juliane Dressner explore the problematic nature of these agreements and their prevalence in their film My NDA through the experiences of three people who regret signing and are considering breaking their NDAs to get the truth out into the world.
This documentary focuses primarily on three individuals while bringing in others who have significant insight into how these contacts typically work. Its subjects are in very different fields and endured separate experiences that led them to sign paperwork they almost immediately regretted signing. A sexual assault, a pay discrepancy, and the stifling of negative stories about a particular political figure, respectively, got them to where they are, united by the restrictions of a litigation industry that emphasizes suppressing dissent and ensuring that even the mere contemplation of speaking out carries with it extraordinary stress and the possibility not just of losing a settlement but potentially facing criminal repercussions for violating a binding legal agreement.
It makes sense that NDAs have not been covered extensively due to their secretive nature, yet they’re startlingly prevalent across a variety of fields. In her director’s statement, Miriam Shor, whose primary experience in Hollywood is an actress, noted how she signed many NDAs over the course of her career but felt uncomfortable when one stopped her from speaking about something personal, which felt needlessly invasive. One subject in the film explains that her NDA prohibited her from discussing its contents with her therapist, a clear and devastating overreach that suggests something far more problematic than merely trying to maintain confidentiality and instead to exert total control over a person’s emotional and psychological wellbeing.
This film doesn’t dive deep into the history of NDAs or present an overarching thesis about their use that’s meant to be comprehensive and universally applicable. It takes a far simpler approach, identifying common boilerplate language that is dismissed as standard even though it rarely pertains to the specific matters included in a given agreement. It’s the kind of fare that any legal representative might just shrug and say, it’s always in there, when in fact there’s absolutely no reason for its presence. While it may seem innocuous enough, it clearly has repercussions and can lead to devastating distress when it prevents someone from adequately coping with and moving on from a traumatic event that very much deserves resolution and shouldn’t be erased by an exclusionary clause that seeks instead to pretend it never happened.
What this film can’t do, through no fault of directors Shor and Juliane Dressner, and not for lack of trying, is to achieve a major victory against the widespread use of NDAs. Unsurprisingly, the companies these people used to work with are not in the habit of responding to comment or interview requests, and all of these cases remain open. That the NDA signers have not been hit with legal action for violating their agreements is a win on its own, though they’re all well aware that it could still come at any moment. The process of fighting back is not taken lightly, with advice given on what constitutes a breach and care taken to ensure that nothing is flippant or irresponsible. The responses to individual stories being shared are powerful and resonant, underscoring the need for an investigation like this which exposes, among other things, how corporations of many varieties don’t actually try to address and change systemic issues but instead to find legal and financial resolution to make a problem go away quietly and without fanfare. My NDA is gripping, upsetting, and vital, a first start to an important conversation.
Movie Rating: 8/10
