What really happened at Chappaquiddick? A new movie explores the truth we’ll never know.

For those of a certain age, Chappaquiddick is the sound of a Camelot made of sand, dragged away by the tide. In conservative media, the word is still brandished as an insult, or a meme, to undermine any accomplishment of the Kennedy family, which remains the focus of dark conspiracy theories.

But for those younger, Chappaquiddick — if it rings a bell at all — is just another of those proper nouns tied to some nebulous political shame: Kent State, Watergate, My Lai, Iran-contra, Whitewater. Now it’s a new movie by rookie screenwriters, born more than a decade after Chappaquiddick, who first heard the name in their mid-20s. Their efforts aren’t partisan, they say…

For those of a certain age, Chappaquiddick is the sound of a Camelot made of sand, dragged away by the tide. In conservative media, the word is still brandished as an insult, or a meme, to undermine any accomplishment of the Kennedy family, which remains the focus of dark conspiracy theories.

But for those younger, Chappaquiddick — if it rings a bell at all — is just another of those proper nouns tied to some nebulous political shame: Kent State, Watergate, My Lai, Iran-contra, Whitewater. Now it’s a new movie by rookie screenwriters, born more than a decade after Chappaquiddick, who first heard the name in their mid-20s. Their efforts aren’t partisan, they say…

The movie’s poster calls it “the untold true story,” although it’s been told over and over, in many different ways — though mostly by men, and never to everyone’s satisfaction.

“I made terrible decisions,” Kennedy wrote in his 2009 posthumous memoir, and “I’ve had to live with that guilt for forty years.” On the big screen, he has been brought back to life

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