“You always taught me to fight for the people who need the help the most.” Based on a true story, Destin Cretton’s JUST MERCY is a powerful and thought-provoking true story following a young lawyer and his history-making battle for justice.
After graduating from Harvard, Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) 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). One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), 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 manoeuvrings and overt and unabashed racism as he fights for Walter, and others like him, with the odds—and the system—stacked against them.
JUST MERCY opens in Irish cinemas on January 17, 2020.