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Movies that feel like Just Mercy (2019)

If you loved Just Mercy, the closest films we have are Richard Jewell (2019), Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) and House of Gucci (2021). All three share Just Mercy's contemplative and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 6 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, Hulu and Apple TV and others, checked against today's data.

The powerful true story of Harvard-educated lawyer Bryan Stevenson, who goes to Alabama to defend the disenfranchised and wrongly condemned — including Walter McMillian, a man sentenced to death despite evidence proving his innocence. Bryan fights tirelessly for Walter with the system stacked against them.

🍅 85% Rotten Tomatoes7.6 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Destin Daniel Crettoncontemplativegrittyepic

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If Just Mercy hit the spot, these will too

Richard Jewell poster
Richard Jewell
2019 · dir. Clint Eastwood
🍅 77%7.5drama · history · crime

Both keep coming back to the same thing: a true story

Richard Jewell thinks quick, works fast, and saves hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives after a domestic terrorist plants several pipe bombs and they explode during a concert, only to be falsely suspected of the crime by sloppy FBI work and sensational media coverage.

Killers of the Flower Moon poster
Killers of the Flower Moon
2023 · dir. Martin Scorsese
🍅 93%7.5crime · history · drama

The same preoccupation in both: racism

When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one—until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.

House of Gucci poster
House of Gucci
2021 · dir. Ridley Scott
🍅 62%6.6drama · crime · history

Both are built on the same subject: a true story

When Patrizia Reggiani, an outsider from humble beginnings, marries into the Gucci family, her unbridled ambition begins to unravel the family legacy and triggers a reckless spiral of betrayal, decadence, revenge, and ultimately… murder.

Black Mass poster
Black Mass
2015 · dir. Scott Cooper
🍅 74%6.8drama · crime · history

Both land stillness and grit at once

The true story of Whitey Bulger, the brother of a state senator and the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston, who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf.

J. Edgar poster
J. Edgar
2011 · dir. Clint Eastwood
🍅 44%6.5drama · crime · history

Drama with a pulse of scale, in both cases

The difference: Reviewed a good deal more coolly

As the face of law enforcement in the United States for almost 50 years, J. Edgar Hoover was feared and admired, reviled and revered. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career, and his life.

All the Money in the World poster
All the Money in the World
2017 · dir. Ridley Scott
🍅 79%6.8crime · history · thriller

Contemplative crime in both cases

The difference: Leans harder into thriller than Just Mercy does

The story of the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother to convince his billionaire grandfather Jean Paul Getty to pay the ransom.

A Touch of Sin poster
A Touch of Sin
2013 · dir. Jia Zhangke
🍅 95%7.1crime · drama

Common ground: humiliation

The difference: Not nearly as epic as Just Mercy

Four people in different provinces are driven to violent ends: An angry miner is enraged by corruption in his village. A migrant discovers the possibilities of owning a firearm. A receptionist is pushed beyond her limits by an abusive client. A young factory worker goes from one job to the next.

Monster poster
Monster
2003 · dir. Patty Jenkins
🍅 81%7.3crime · drama

One thread runs through both: death penalty

In 1989, prostitute Aileen Wuornos befriends and enters a relationship with a young woman named Selby. Determined to straighten out her life, Aileen's limited education lands her back on the corner. She's raped by a trick, who she kills. A string of murder and robbery follows that ultimately leads Aileen to becoming America's first female serial killer.

Labyrinth of Lies poster
Labyrinth of Lies
2014 · dir. Giulio Ricciarelli
🍅 83%7.3drama · history

Both keep coming back to the same thing: lawyer

A young prosecutor in postwar West Germany investigates a massive conspiracy to cover up the Nazi pasts of prominent public figures.

Serpico poster
Serpico
1973 · dir. Sidney Lumet
🍅 93%7.7crime · drama · history

Gritty history, and it commits to that

The difference: Made in the 1970s, in a different era of the craft

New York cop Frank Serpico blows the whistle on the rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile poster
🍅 54%6.7drama · crime

Drama built on stillness, twice over

A chronicle of the crimes of Ted Bundy, from the perspective of his longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer, who refused to believe the truth about him for years.

Gangs of New York poster
Gangs of New York
2002 · dir. Martin Scorsese
🍅 72%7.5drama · history · crime

Both lean on scale more than on crime

In early 1860s New York, Irish immigrant Amsterdam Vallon is released from prison and returns to the Five Points, seeking revenge against his father's killer, William Cutting, a powerful anti-immigrant gang leader. He knows that revenge can only be attained by infiltrating Cutting's inner circle. Vallon's journey becomes a fight for personal survival and to find a place for the Irish people.

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The best-reviewed films that share Just Mercy’s defining feeling.