Programmed September 2024

Courtroom Dramas

The American courtroom is the ultimate stage—a living theater where human dramas of truth, justice, and ethics play out with sometimes life-or-death stakes—so it’s little wonder that it’s the setting for some of the most riveting films ever made. Impassioned speeches, sharp cross-examinations, and explosive testimony make the courtroom drama an actor’s dream, while master directors like Sidney Lumet ( 12 Angry Men , The Verdict ), Otto Preminger ( Anatomy of a Murder ), and Jonathan Demme ( Philadelphia ) use the intricacies of the legal system to explore complex questions of morality, subjectivity, and human nature. Full of surprise twists and bombshell revelations, these films remind us that there are multiple sides to every story.

No longer streaming