How a legal drama became a tool for empathy and systemic change

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: The 2019 film Just Mercy chronicles attorney Bryan Stevenson’s fight to exonerate a wrongfully convicted man on Alabama’s death row. Beyond its critical acclaim and box office success, the film has served as a catalyst for public education, even influencing psychological research on how media shapes our empathy toward the incarcerated.

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and based on Bryan Stevenson’s 2014 memoir, Just Mercy dramatizes the true story of Walter McMillian. In 1989, Stevenson founded the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery to provide legal defense for impoverished individuals. His work centered on McMillian, an African American man sentenced to death for the 1986 killing of a young white woman. The case relied heavily on the testimony of a felon who had been coerced by police, a common thread in the systemic injustices Stevenson sought to dismantle.

The film’s production journey began in 2015, eventually starring Michael B. Jordan as Stevenson and Jamie Foxx as McMillian. Upon its 2019 release, the film garnered generally positive reviews, earning an 85% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an A+ grade from CinemaScore audiences. Its reach extended beyond entertainment; in June 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, Warner Bros. made the film available for free to foster public dialogue on systemic racism. Networks like TBS and TNT later broadcast the film alongside Black Panther to mark Juneteenth, featuring discussions with figures such as Senator Kamala Harris.

The impact of the film has been measured both financially and academically. It grossed over $50.9 million worldwide and, more recently, became the subject of a 2024 Stanford University study. Researchers found that viewing the film increased participants' empathic understanding of formerly incarcerated individuals. This highlights a rare intersection where a biographical legal drama functions not just as a narrative, but as a mechanism for shifting social perspectives on criminal justice and the humanity of those caught within it.

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