ASHER GOLDSTEIN

JUST MERCY (2020)
Starring Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Brie Larson, O'Shea Jackson Jr, Rafe Spall, Rob Morgan, Tim Blake Nelson, Drew Scheid, Steve Coulter and Mary Kraft. Directed by Destin Cretton and Destin Daniel Cretton.

A powerful and thought-provoking true story, Just Mercy follows young lawyer Bryan Stevenson and his history-making battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan might have had his pick of lucrative jobs. Instead, he heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned, with the support of local advocate Eva Ansley. One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian, 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 only 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 manoeuvrings and overt and unabashed racism as he fights for Walter, and others like him, with the odds—and the system—stacked against them.

SHORT TERM 12 (2013)
Starring Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr, Kaitlyn Dever, Rami Malek, Lakeith Stanfield, Kevin Hernandez, Melora Walters, Stephanie Beatriz, Lydia Du Veaux and Alex Calloway. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton.

Passionate and tough, Grace, a twenty-something supervisor at a foster-care facility for at-risk teenagers, is a formidable caretaker of the kids in her charge, and in love with her long-term boyfriend and co-worker, Mason.

But Grace’s own difficult past – and the surprising future that suddenly presents itself – throw her into unforeseen confusion, made all the sharper with the arrival of a new intake at the facility – Jayden a gifted but troubled teenage girl with whom Grace has a charged connection.

She and Mason also struggle to help Marcus – an intense, quiet kid who is about to turn 18 – manage through the difficulty of having to leave the facility. Grace comes to find – in both her work and the new teenager in her care – surprising sources of redemption.

REVIEWS Short Term 12 - Beautiful. Special. A revelation.