Just Mercy
A wet February night at 10:15 pm. YES at 10:15 PM!! The latest showing at a cinema I’ve ever been to...and probably ever will. Despite the time of night, you never really noticed:
Because the film was superb and;
Because the VIP seating in Maghera is excellent. Quiet, Reclining seats, armchairs and its only an extra £1! the only downfall is that it’s in Maghera.... I’m sure Maghera is lovely, but it’s a wee bit off the beaten track. However, would highly recommend the VIP cinema it’s superb at no extra cost.
Getting onto the film ‘Just Mercy’. This film is based on a true story where in 1986, Walter Mcmillian (Jamie Foxx), a black business owner in Monroeville, Alabama, is arrested out of the blue and charged with the murder of a young girl in the town. Despite the witness in the case being a convicted felon himself and about a dozen family members of Walters testifying that Walter was with them at a “fish fry” (don’t ask me what that is, but I presume a clue is in the name.) Since these claims were all made by black people, the court sheriff and police department decided they weren’t reliable and stuck with the first witness sentencing Walter to death row. Throughout the film, you can see that Walter is being charged without a proper trial and treated unfairly. This is where Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) comes in, a Harvard graduate of law who started a non-profit legal team called Equal Justice Initiative or EJI. This organisation is set up to provide legal help to those on death row who did not receive adequate legal aid at their trial. Bryan fights tooth and nail for Walter knowing he is innocent, but of course, as you can imagine, someone fighting to bring what people think are murderers back on the street doesn’t receive too much help. Constantly fighting the case, again and again, being rejected and turned away, but he finally does get his chance and that’s all he needed.
This film is nothing short of phenomenal. It’s gripping and intense the whole way it has you on the edge of your seat and yet crying your eyes out all at the same time. Its a very touching movie, and being in quite recent history, it makes it even more heart wrenching .that a black man could be literally picked up off the street and charged with murder and sentenced to death, only to waste 6 years of his life of death row just waiting for the letter to come telling when it’s your time in the chair. It’s a hard watch. Also, to see everybody in the town working against Bryan to make sure that this normal man stays in Jail.
This subject should interest us as Reformed Presbyterians because our church’s testimony has 4 pages on the subject of the death penalty. It has an official position. “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood be shed for God made man in his own image” Genesis 9:6. We are for it as we know our saviour was put to death by the Romans. We see this come up slightly in the film as we see a man who is sent to death for the killing of a girl during a PTSD episode. The song playing is ‘Old Rugged Cross’, and the movie seems to draw thin parallels between this man’s punishment and Jesus’ own unjustified death. The EJI is doing some great work in helping those who have been UNJUSTLY awarded the death penalty. Obviously, they aren’t looking to put murderers and lawless men back on the streets. But they are helping those who have been unfairly treated by the system. Racism is rife in this film, and we have to remind ourselves that each man is made in God’s image. Catholic or Protestant, Black or White, Refugees or Citizens, we are all made by God for God. Just Mercy is a beautiful example of the work, the courage and the faith it takes to push against the wrongs of this world: faith that a broken system can still be repaired enough to yield a semblance of justice. Faith that good people can stand up for a good reason. Faith in God, too, whose presence we subtly feel throughout the film.
Theatres are filled with secular movies that are either indifferent or outright hostile to faith, with only the occasional small, overtly Christian faith-based flick offering counterprogramming. Just Mercy finds the middle ground, showing how faith can inspire and motivate believers in the real world. Now Walter was no innocent man as the movie shows, he didn’t take a life however his adultery is a sin for which he will be accountable before God. As will our sins which we have not sought forgiveness for. This film is well worth a watch, and the acting is quite brilliant. Some bad language and racism do come up, so it may be more for young adults and over. Definitely, once the movie finishes, stay an extra minute and read the statistics they show at the end. And definitely go to the Maghera VIP screen it’s great. Unless you live over an hour away, then it probably isn’t worth the trip! Wait for the DVD. 4.5/5 Hope you Enjoy!
