The Verdict Is In: 'Juror #2' Is a Must-See!

The legendary Clint Eastwood doesn't stop. At the age of 94, he has just released Juror #2, the 40th film he has directed since he made his directorial debut with Play Misty For Me back in 1971.

Juror #2 premiered at AFI Fest on October 27 and includes Nicholas Hoult, Toni Colette, Zoey Deutch, Kiefer Sutherland, and many more. Despite its limited exposure and almost non-existant promotion by its studio, Warner Bros., Juror #2 has already achieved general critical acclaim and an extraordinary score of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and 71% on Metacritic as if this writing, and is emerging as one of the most important films of Clint Eastwood's career.

The plot of Juror #2 presents a real ethical dilemma. It begins when family man Justin Kempt (Hoult), a recovering addict, is dealing with the trauma of his wife's abortion when a problem arises. He is called for jury duty, and it is not an easy case. It is a high-profile murder trial. A man named James Sythe (Gabriel Basso) has been accused of killing his wife, Kendall Carter (Francesca Eastwood), and everything seems to indicate that we are dealing with a sexist crime. But the same night of the crime, Justin is driving and hits what he thinks is a deer, and then he realizes that it could have been Kendall he had run over. And this is where the moral dilemma arises: Will he reveal the truth or condemn James? He must fight for the innocence of the accused as a matter of justice, but does he do it out of a sense of guilt? And at the same time, isn't it better to declare the accused guilty to leave the issue closed? It is, therefore, a genuine inner struggle of the character with his own conscience. In this way, Clint Eastwood confronts the viewer with a series of ethical contradictions that are difficult to resolve, always moving through a murky moral ambiguity.

Juror #2 joins a list of great courtroom dramas in Hollywood. One of the more iconic films is To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), based on the novel by Harper Lee and directed by Robert Mulligan. Another significant courtroom film is the classic 12 Angry Men (1957), directed by Sidney Lumet and based on Reginald Rose’s work of the same name. A Few Good Men (1992) cannot be missed from the list too; It was written as a play by Aaron Sorkin and was directed by Rob Reiner. We also can't forget And Justice for All (1979), which stars Al Pacino as Arthur Kirkland and is directed by Norman Jewison. And now comes Juror #2, which, judging by the critics' ratings, also aspires to be part of the history of great courtroom dramas.

Juror #2 is in theatres now!