Gibson: Most important, Stormy consented to us using it. We’re very grateful that we were able to capture her emotional moments as the news was unfolding, which is what the unique aspect of this film is.

The details that Daniels shares of the night that she and Trump met — they differ from the “60 Minutes” interview she gave. She says Trump cornered her. She maintains the encounter was consensual, but it felt like she was processing and reevaluating that night differently. Do you think that is the case? What was it like to hear her reflect on that moment?

Gibson: It was really powerful. She had actually said in the interview that when she saw the movie “Bombshell” — which was a big inspiration behind this film for me personally and … I had already thought of her story a lot in that “Bombshell” kind of world — she said, “You know, when I saw the movie ‘Bombshell,’ I realized what had happened to me all these years later. I realized it was a casting-couch situation. It was a situation where I didn’t have any power. And because of my past trauma, I left my body.” It is true that trauma survivors process things over time, they become more and more conscious of what happens in their life. I think that happened for Stormy.

Q. You spoke with a lot of people — Apatow, Jimmy Kimmel, Daniels’ former and current husband, her childhood friend Travis Partin — the list goes on. In speaking with Daniels’ family and friends, what would you say they think about everything that’s transpired? How do they feel it’s affected her personally?

Gibson: She’s had some of the darkest times in her life since the news broke. She’s in constant fight or flight, she’s concerned about her daughter being seen with her in public — she’s in college. She’s a woman living in fear but tries so hard to not let it break her. Her friends are worried … she’s going to lose her home because of the legal fees she owes Trump’s attorneys. This is a woman who fought so hard and worked so hard to build a career that was just gone in a moment. She’s still the main breadwinner in her family, she’s still been able to continue to be the provider for her former husband and child.

Carr: In the film, we see Joy (King), one of the former executives of Wicked (Pictures, the adult-film studio), and she wasn’t really worried about Stormy until now. We talk a lot about the death threats in the film, but something that’s really important to us (to show) is that this is somebody who was let down by the justice system, owes Trump over $600,000 and has to stand up and testify in a court case, where the system has let her down.

We can’t end the film in a tidy pink bow, right? The takeaway from what Stormy says at the end of the film … is just: I’m tired. People in her life are tired, she’s tired. It took so much for her to stand up. … Her life has borne enormous consequences.

Q. It’s striking how vicious the attacks have become, like when she’s reading her social-media feed and also the footage that you show from her car, where she’s being chased (by a person in another car). How is she coping with that, now that the hush-money trial is on the horizon?

Gibson: I spoke to her (recently). She was talking to me … about having to be in New York for the launch of the film and all the questions she’s going to get asked and how anxious she is. Her voice was shaking. She knows now that she’s been handed this important moment in the history of our country, to really show up for it. She’s showing that same fighting spirit that we see in the film.

Q. Nonetheless, some people still seem to have these divisive feelings about Daniels, even those who in theory are more liberal-minded about who she is and her profession. Why do you think that is?

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