With the Black Lives Matter movement garnering international attention following the killing of an unarmed black man last month at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer who held his foot on the neck of George Floyd for eight minutes and 46 seconds as Floyd repeated, “I can’t breathe,” Warner Bros. has decided to make available for free the Michael B. Jordan (ex-Reggie Montgomery, “All My Children”) and Jamie Foxx NAACP Image Award-winning vehicle “Just Mercy” across most digital platforms and on-demand services. Paramount Pictures has done the same with the Ava DuVernay directed “Selma.”
“We believe in the power of story. Our film ‘Just Mercy,’ based on the life work of civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, is one resource we can humbly offer to those who are interested in learning more about the systematic racism that plagues our society,” reads a message on the “Just Mercy” official website. “For the month of June, ‘Just Mercy’ will be available to rent for free across digital platforms in the U.S. To actively be part of the change our country is so desperately seeking, we encourage you to learn more about our past and the countless injustices that have led us to where we are today. Thank you to the artists, storytellers and advocates who helped make this film happen. Watch with your family, friends and allies.”
In a statement released to Smithsonian Magazine, Stevenson said, “Losing a loved one is traumatic, painful and disorienting, He added that the experience, as well as encounters by friends and family members of violence help “reinforced for me the primacy of responding to the conditions of hopelessness and despair that create crime.”
Released in theaters on December 25, 2019, “Just Mercy” tells the true story of Walter McMillian (played by Jamie Foxx), who, with the help of a young defense attorney named Bryan Stevenson (played by Michael B. Jordan), appeals his murder conviction. The film is based on the memoir of the same name, written by Stevenson.
You can watch a trailer for the film below.
In addition to “Just Mercy,” Paramount Pictures has also released its Academy Award-nominated film “Selma” by director Ava DuVernay which tells the powerful story of how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the epic march from Selma to Montgomery to secure equal voting rights in an event that forever altered history. Like “Just Mercy,” the film was released on Christmas Day — December 25, 2014.
Check your preferred on-demand service provider for methods on how to watch both films during the month of June.