Miller attends a Stanford fraternity party with her younger sister Tiffany and their friends, where she becomes heavily intoxicated.

Miller wakes up in a hospital surrounded by a police officer and a Stanford dean who tell her she may have been assaulted.

Miller undergoes hours of invasive examinations at a rape clinic where medical staff collect evidence of her assault.

Detective Kim asks if Miller would like to press charges, and she agrees without yet knowing the full details of her assault.

Miller reads Brock Turner's name in the newspaper and for the first time learns the graphic details of her assault.

Miller tells her parents about the assault for the first time and is overwhelmed by emotion.

Turner is formally charged with three counts of felony sexual assault after evidence from Miller's rape kit is processed.

Miller quits her job and moves to Rhode Island alone to enroll in a summer printmaking course at an art school.

Miller returns to California to testify at the preliminary hearing and becomes inconsolable when describing the events of the assault.

The trial begins and Miller takes the witness stand again, breaking down emotionally while recounting the night she blacked out.

The jury deliberates for two days and returns a guilty verdict on all three counts of felony assault.

After learning that a probation officer recommended no prison time for Turner, Miller writes a 28-page victim impact statement in nine hours.

Miller stands before the court and reads her victim impact statement directly to the judge and her attacker.

Judge Persky sentences Turner to only six months in county jail, and Miller agrees to release her statement on BuzzFeed.

Miller's victim impact statement goes viral, eventually fueling a successful campaign to recall the judge who gave Turner his lenient sentence.

Chanel Miller's story begins when she attends a Stanford fraternity party with her sister and wakes up in a hospital having been sexually assaulted. After undergoing a rape kit examination and agreeing to press charges, she learns the graphic details of her own assault from a newspaper article before eventually telling her parents the truth. As her attacker Brock Turner is formally charged, Miller quits her job and moves to Rhode Island to pursue art, returning to testify at the preliminary hearing and later at the full trial. The jury finds Turner guilty on all three counts, but when a probation officer recommends no prison time, Miller channels her rage into a powerful 28-page victim impact statement. She reads the statement aloud at sentencing, only to watch Judge Persky give Turner a mere six months in county jail. Miller releases her statement publicly, it goes viral around the world, and ultimately fuels the successful campaign to remove the judge from the bench.

The headline events from assault to nationwide impact.

Tiffany arrives at the hospital, picks up Miller, and tells Detective Kim about an aggressive blonde man at the party.

The sisters return home and decide not to tell their parents about the assault until they have more information.

Miller retrieves her phone from the police station and learns that two Swedish graduate students intervened and chased her assailant.

Tiffany is called back to the police station and identifies Brock Turner as the aggressive man who harassed her that night.

After reading an online comment blaming her for the assault, Miller begins referring to her victimized self as Emily Doe.

A backlog of hundreds of unprocessed rape kits delays the processing of Miller's evidence for months.

Miller applies to and is accepted into a printmaking class at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Miller tells her friend Claire about the assault, and Claire tells her that this is her opportunity.

While walking alone late at night in Rhode Island, Miller aggressively confronts a man who repeatedly offers her a ride.

Miller smashes her phone in a rage directed at Lucas and agrees to begin attending therapy sessions.

Miller is chosen to perform last in a Philadelphia comedy show and receives high praise from the audience.

Miller attends a presentation about the Sexual Assault Survivors' Bill of Rights and feels a renewed sense of purpose.

Lucas and Miller travel to Indonesia, where scuba diving helps Miller reconnect with her body for the first time since the assault.

Miller visits the train tracks near her high school where classmates died and struggles briefly with a desire to end her life.

Stanford contacts Miller two days before Turner's release from jail, offering an apology and money to cover her therapy costs.

In the immediate hours after the assault, Miller's sister Tiffany provides key testimony to Detective Kim, and Miller later learns from her retrieved phone that two Swedish graduate students intervened to stop the attack. As the legal process unfolds, a months-long backlog of rape kits delays Miller's case, and she copes by applying to an art school in Rhode Island and confiding in her friend Claire, who calls the ordeal Miller's opportunity. Her time in Rhode Island is marked by relentless street harassment, worsening anxiety, and a fierce late-night confrontation with a man who repeatedly follows her home. Back in Philadelphia, Miller reaches a breaking point, smashing her phone in rage before agreeing to therapy, and she finds moments of renewal through a well-received comedy show performance and a presentation about survivors' rights. A restorative trip to Indonesia with Lucas, where scuba diving helps her reconnect with her body, offers a rare moment of peace before the verdict. After Turner's sentencing, Stanford reaches out with a financial offer for Miller's therapy just before Turner's release, bringing a final and complicated chapter to her engagement with institutional power.

The supporting moments that shaped Miller's journey.

Miller opens her memoir by introducing herself as Chanel and explaining her name's origin as an homage to her Chinese roots.

Miller discovers her undergarments are missing in the hospital bathroom and the reality of her assault begins to register.

Alaleh calls to inform Miller that her identity will be protected as Emily Doe but that her sister's identity will not be.

Miller meets Alaleh for the first time and is warned that her character and behavior will be closely scrutinized throughout the trial.

Lucas visits from graduate school and Miller tells him about the assault; he responds by staying close to her and offering comfort.

Miller suffers severe insomnia during her time in Rhode Island as anxiety over facing Turner in court grows overwhelming.

The preliminary hearing is delayed multiple times, leaving Miller and her family in a prolonged and disorienting state of uncertainty.

When asked about consent during her hearing testimony, Miller answers with a clear and empowering 'No' that feels like reclaimed power.

After reading negative press coverage of her hearing testimony, Miller falls back into a deep depression.

After the comedy show ends, Miller calls her mother in tears, and her mother offers wisdom about surviving hardship.

The defense attorney uses Tiffany's testimony to argue that Turner had reason to believe Miller was conscious and consenting.

The defense presents four character witnesses for Turner while Miller is denied any opportunity to present her own character to the jury.

Judge Persky issues a lenient sentence, blaming Miller for failing to recognize Turner's remorse despite the jury's unanimous guilty verdict.

Turner's appeal is denied, and Miller realizes for the first time that her life is no longer tied to his.

Dr. Christine Ford testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee about surviving sexual assault, and Miller draws strength from her courage.

Miller begins her story by reclaiming her identity, opening her memoir as Chanel and explaining the Chinese roots of her name, though her transformation truly starts in a hospital bathroom when she first grasps the reality of what happened to her. Key revelations follow quickly: Alaleh explains the legal anonymity protecting Miller but not her sister, and at their first in-person meeting the DA warns Miller that her character will be scrutinized throughout the entire trial. The emotional turning points deepen as Miller tells Lucas about the assault and eventually begins therapy in Philadelphia, where she starts to recognize how deeply she has internalized the cruelty of online strangers. Her preliminary hearing testimony contains two pivotal shifts — an empowering answer about consent that gives her a sense of reclaimed voice, followed by a depression triggered by hostile press coverage. At trial, the defense weaponizes both Tiffany's testimony and Turner's character witnesses while Miller is denied the same opportunity to present her own character, and Judge Persky issues a shockingly lenient sentence. The memoir reaches resolution through hard-won victories: Turner's appeal is denied and Dr. Christine Ford's Senate testimony reminds Miller that speaking out sends ripples far beyond any single case.