The 10 Best Courtroom Thrillers, Ranked (According To IMDb)

Angry lawyers. Callous judges. Hung juries. Innocent defendants. The best courtroom thrillers tell engaging stories about the power and limitations of the judicial system. From classics like 12 Angry Men to new dramatic addictions to the genre like Just Mercy, these films take what seems like boring subject matter and give it a compelling, cinematic edge.

At the heart of these films is a search for justice — which is often hard to come by in the real world. Whether depicting the ins and outs of military courts, civil lawsuits, or major criminal cases, these films raise invaluable questions about the dictum “innocent until proven guilty.”

10 A Time To Kill (1996) – 7.5

This Joel Schumacher feature is a product of the ’90s courtroom drama craze. Based on the John Grisham novel of the same name, A Time to Kill stars Matthew McConaughey as a defense attorney representing a Black Mississippi man facing the death penalty after killing the two white men responsible for assaulting his young daughter.

Samuel L. Jackson co-stars as the defendant, Carl Lee Hailey, who has the entire system pitched against him — from the all-white jury to the KKK members rallying outside the courthouse. The enduring legacy of A Time to Kill hinges on its stellar performances rather than its attempts to highlight racial inequality in the judicial system, which is given the superficial Hollywood treatment by amplifying the white savior trope.

9 Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) – 7.6

This iconic John Ford film about Abraham Lincoln stars a young Peter Fonda as the future 16th president. The movie traces Lincoln’s early days as a trial lawyer in Springfield, Illinois, where he established his own law practice.

While the focus of Ford’s feature is President Lincoln’s evolution into a formidable defense attorney, The Young Mr. Lincoln also highlights its title character’s blossoming romance with his future wife, Mary Todd. The brunt of the film’s plot and action, though, follows the first real case taken up by Lincoln: the trial of two brothers accused of murder.

8 The Hurricane (1999) – 7.6

The Hurricane is another biopic that digs into the judicial system. In this movie, the focus is professional boxer Rubin “The Hurricane” Carter, who was falsely convicted of killing three people at a bar in 1966.

The film dramatizes Carter’s tortuous 20-year stint in jail following his conviction, where he fought tirelessly to have his case overruled while relying on the support of a few close friends and family members. Denzel Washington plays Carter, and his career-defining performance earned him an Oscar nomination.

7 Just Mercy (2019) – 7.6

Based on the memoir by Alabama defense attorney Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy centers around an appeal Stevenson sought early in his career for a Black man on death row. Michael B. Jordan plays Stevenson, and Jamie Foxx plays his client, a man named Walter McMillian.

In 1986, McMillian was convicted of murdering a white woman based solely on testimony from a third party, and when Stevenson met him three years later, the ambitious attorney decided to challenge what he saw as a racist system by pushing to have McMillian’s conviction overturned. Tim Blake Nelson and Brie Larson co-star in this compelling, well-crafted film.

6 Dark Waters (2019) – 7.6

Mark Ruffalo portrays a real-life corporate lawyer who decides to take on the chemical manufacturing company DuPont in this hard-nosed, detailed look into private sector malfeasance. Ruffalo plays Robert Bilott, who challenged DuPont in court after discovering the company knowingly dumped unregulated chemicals into waterways around Parkersburg, West Virginia.

Without relying on melodramatic twists and turns, Dark Waters follows Bilott’s grueling, decades-long journey to find some sort of justice for the residents of Parkersburg. The movie makes a profound statement about the lack of judicial accountability for large companies like DuPont.

5 A Few Good Men (1992) – 7.7

“You can’t handle the truth!” Rob Reiner’s military court drama about a young JAG lawyer who is chosen to helm a murder investigation that uncovers secrets about a horrendous hazing ritual in the Marines. Tom Cruise plays inexperienced lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Alastair Kaffee, and Demi Moore co-stars as his superior, Lieutenant Commander JoAnne Galloway.

Jack Nicholson gives one of his most famed performances in A Few Good Men as Marine Corps Colonel Nathan R. Jessup, the commander of the base where the murder occurred. As Jessup’s role in the homicide becomes more apparent, tensions rise in the courtroom — making for a powerful drama.

4 The Verdict (1982) – 7.7

The Verdict is a testament to Paul Newman’s top-notch acting skills. In this Sidney Lumet film, Newman plays an alcoholic medical malpractice attorney named Frank Galvin who stumbles into a case that turns out to mean a lot more for him and his client than he initially realized.

In addition to Newman’s complicated performance, The Verdict is hailed for its impeccable script, written by playwright David Mamet. Mamet is known for weaving together thrilling, intimate character studies filtered through a noir lens; all of these elements are present in Lumet’s legal drama.

3 Anatomy Of A Murder (1959) – 8.0

Otto Preminger helmed this drama that is set almost entirely in a courtroom. James Stewart plays a former DA named Paul Biegler living in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula who is asked to defend a soldier accused of murdering another man in self-defense.

What ensues is a 160-minute film that highlights the ways lawyers actually build cases, from gathering evidence to coaching clients. Anatomy of a Murder also raises an important question as it progresses: how is it possible to get at the truth in court when it’s easy to manipulate the system?

2 To Kill A Mockingbird (1962) – 8.2

This adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel about a Black man falsely accused of sexually assaulting a white woman in Jim Crow Alabama stars Gregory Peck as one of the most beloved fictional lawyers of all time: Atticus Finch. While the film and the book are told from the perspective of Atticus’ six-year-old daughter Scout, To Kill a Mockingbird is a courtroom drama through and through.

While To Kill a Mockingbird is considered one of the most important American stories of all time, the film’s focus on Atticus instead of his client, Tom Robinson, has been scrutinized in recent decades. As Robert Ebert writes, instead of being more honest about racism, “it goes very easy on the realities of small-town Alabama in the 1930s.”

1 12 Angry Men (1957) – 8.9

Sidney Lumet’s 12 Angry Men dissects the judicial system with its tale of 12 white male jurors deliberating whether or not an 18-year-old should be found guilty of killing his own father. If there is any reasonable doubt, the jury must find the defendant not guilty; if they return a guilty charge, the young man will be put to death.

As the 12 men debate the ins and outs of the case in a hot deliberation room, their prejudices, assumptions, and gut reactions are all exposed in stunning ways. The jurors must unanimously agree on a verdict before returning to the courthouse.

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