Hollywood producer Mark Ciardi says the new Ted Kennedy biopic movie Chappaquiddick, about the drowning incident that left a young woman dead, gives viewers a chance to see what Kennedy “had to go through” at that time, The Hollywood Reporter reports.

“I’ve done a lot of true life stories, many sports stories, but this one had a deep impact on this country,” Ciardi said. “Everyone has an idea of what happened on Chappaquiddick and this strings together the events in a compelling and emotional way. You’ll see what he had to go through.”

Kennedy was a young U.S. senator at the time, and he accidentally drove his car off a bridge late on July 18, 1969, into a tidal channel while taking political staffer Mary Jo Kopechne home from a party.

Kennedy swam to safety, and he said later that he made repeated efforts to rescue Kopechne, but she died in the car, possibly of suffocation. Kennedy did not report the accident to authorities until the following morning, when the car and Kopechne’s body were discovered.