the WHY
One of the greatest privileges of my life was encouraging Bryan to write his book, Just Mercy, and as he later described it, “convincing him with kindness.” It was an incredible joy to see the film realized by Director Destin Daniel Cretton and Producer Gil Netter and to have Bryan a true superhero played by a cinematic one in Michael B. Jordan.
2021 | 2 HR 7 MIN
Michael B. Jordan and Oscar winners Jamie Foxx and Brie Larson star in “Just Mercy,” an inspiring drama that brings one of the most important stories of our time to the big screen.
Award-winning filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton (“The Glass Castle,” “Short Term 12”) directed the film from a screenplay he co-wrote, based on Bryan Stevenson’s bestselling memoir.
“Just Mercy” is based on the powerful and thought-provoking true story of young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Jordan) 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 (Larson). One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian (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 main 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, as well as overt and unabashed racism as he fights for Walter, and others like him, with the odds—and the system—stacked against them.