Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton, 2019): USA

Review by Gabriel Gottardi. Viewed at the AFI Fest 2019

It was impossible not to find someone crying after the movie was over. I considered this movie one of the most thoughtful and truthful movies that I have ever watched. The Director Destin Daniel Cretton tells a story about a young black man (Jamie Foxx) that was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and a young lawyer (Michael B. Jordan) who is determined to achieve justice for those wrongful sentenced by the state.

The movie starts with a brief introduction of Walter McMillian (Foxx) showing the viewer his real characteristics – simply person, worker, and black. Following for his injustice arrested after being found guilty of the notorious murder of an 18-year-old girl, in 1987, which 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. On the other hand, show the lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Jordan) recent graduated from Harvard that instead of looking for a lucrative job, wants to help those wrongly condemned, like McMillian.

Throughout the movie, the director was able to show the peculiarity of each character without break the focus off the main characters – Bryan and McMillian, which give the audience more pleasure and joy to watch. In my opinion, the director made such a good job with the cinematography that the audience could connect with the character in the first scene. Cretton made a harsh criticism about racism, which still affects the lives of so many people not only in this country but around the world. The story takes place in a small town in Alabama, where the society is practically divided by blacks and whites. The blacks didn’t share the same rights and privileges guaranteed by every citizen of this country. On the contrary, they are marginalized and excluded from hospitals, restaurants, and jobs considered at a high level by our current society.

The director constantly enriches the relationship between Stevenson and his client, who is considered by the lawyer. He waged a war against the government in favor of the justice that had been denied by those with black color. Throughout the cinematography, we are able to see his passion for doing the right thing for those who didn’t have the change to defend themselves in the court of law.

Just Mercy proved to be more than a simple movie, but a storyteller of our reality that happens inside the prison of the United States. Wrongly condemned are put it to death for a crime they sometimes didn’t commit.

In the end, the audience has the chance to ask questions about Stevenson himself, which I found awesome because it gave the audience the possibility to connect not only with the movie but with his project that saved 163 people from being put to death without committed the crime.

 

 

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Published:
11.21.19 / 11am
Category:
AFI Filmfest 2019, Films