Juror #2 (2024)

IMDb plot summary: While serving as a juror in a high-profile murder trial, a family man finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma, one he could use to sway the jury verdict and potentially convict or free the wrong killer.

Directed by Clint Eastwood. Stars Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, and J.K. Simmons.

Juror #2 has a great premise: A juror (played by Nicholas Hoult) realizes partway through a criminal trial that he himself might be the person responsible. The film leans heavily on talky dialogue scenes, a la 12 Angry Men, which often don't work, and Hoult's tightly wound performance, which always does. He grounds the story, which is needed more often than I'd like -- the script can’t resist waxing a little too poetic about the nobility of the American legal system. It's a topic well worth exploring, but it doesn't explore so much as just seem like vague patriotic propaganda. Still, despite a few eye-rolling dialogue scenes, there are moments of brilliance throughout, and the moral questions it raises are undeniably gripping. Without giving anything away, the ending lands just right for me, leaving me with a final taste of the film as an uneven but intriguing courtroom drama that I'd recommend but wouldn't necessarily rewatch.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 Juror #2 (2024)

📊 Ranked #1158/4069 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 74

lost to Clueless (#2031 → #1751)

beat Late Night with the Devil (#3048 → #3047)

beat Under the Roofs of Paris (held at #2539)

beat The Worst Person in the World (#2285 → #2341)

beat The Keep (#2158 → #2159)

beat A Night to Remember (#2095 → #2092)

beat X (#2062 → #2134)

beat Brothers (#2046 → #2105)

beat The Suburbans (held at #2038)

lost to Moonrise Kingdom (#2034 → #913)

beat America's Sweethearts (#2036 → #2035)

beat Wind River (#2035 → #2396)