Bill had threesomes and that Mrs. G was actively involved in finding girls for Bill. This prompts Jennifer to remember that she was supposed to participate in group sex with Mrs. G, Bill and Iris one weekend. Jenny, who threw up each time she was raped by Bill, had an anxiety attack and threw up the day before she was due to go away for the weekend, causing her mother to keep her at home. Realizing she no longer wanted to be in a relationship with Bill, Jenny called him and broke up with him, even as he pleaded with her to stay. Unlike Bill, Mrs. G coldly accepted Jenny's decision to remove her horse that weekend. Jenny wrote about her time with Bill in an essay for school (calling it a work of fiction) in which she proclaimed herself a hero, not a victim; this is the essay her mother finds at the beginning of the film. Jennifer goes to an awards ceremony where Bill is being honored to confront him, calling him out as a child molester in front of his wife and the other attendees. Bill denies everything and leaves. Jennifer has a panic attack and goes to the bathroom, and imagines sitting with her 13-year-old self. Cast Laura Dern as Jennifer "Jenny" Fox Isabelle Nélisse as Jenny, age 13 Jessica Sarah Flaum as Jenny, age 15 Elizabeth Debicki as Jane "Mrs. G" Gramercy, Jennifer's riding instructor Frances Conroy as older Mrs. G Jason Ritter as William P. "Bill" Allens, Jennifer's running coach and Mrs. G's lover John Heard as older Bill Ellen Burstyn as Nadine "Nettie" Fox, Jennifer's mother Laura Allen as Young Nettie Common as Martin, Jennifer's boyfriend Jodi Long as Becky Shay Lee Abeson as Young Becky Tina Parker as Franny Isabella Amara as Young Franny Production On May 5, 2015, it was reported that Laura Dern, Ellen Burstyn, Elizabeth Debicki, and Sebastian Koch would star in The Tale, written and directed by Jennifer Fox. It was set to begin principal photography that summer. On May 14, 2016, it was reported that the film was being shopped to foreign buyers at the Cannes Film Festival, and Common, Jason Ritter, Frances Conroy, and John Heard were announced as also being part of the cast. Filming began in Louisiana on October 20, 2015, and wrapped in December. Release In January 2018, HBO Films acquired distribution rights