Skip to content
Just Mercy tells a powerful and thought-provoking true story, following young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Michael B Jordan – Creed) and his history-making battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan had his pick of lucrative jobs. Instead, he heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or who were not afforded proper representation, with the support of local advocate Eva Ansley (Brie Larson – Free Fire).
One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx – Baby Driver), who, in 1987, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence and the fact that the only testimony against him came from a criminal with a motive to lie. In the years that follow, Bryan becomes embroiled in a labyrinth of legal and political maneuverings and overt and unabashed racism as he fights for Walter, and others like him, with the odds—and the system—stacked against them.
So, this has a good cast, but while watching the trailer, it could be in the scripting but it all felt like it’s going to turn into a sickly-sweet movie with an ending you can spot a mile off.
Just Mercy is released in the UK on January 24th 2020, so it’s possible that it’s aiming for Oscar glory.
Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
Adaptation: Destin Daniel Cretton, Andrew Lanham
Novel: Bryan Stevenson
Also stars: Rafe Spall, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Tim Blake Nelson
Check out the trailer below:
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.