#if this movie were smarter they would have put more emphasis on that irony instead of playing it straight uggh what a waste 😑

[delxenofic]

i like how the sheep are like "cardigan is such a fool for acting like a pig it's not like he has the smarts to be a sheep anway" when pigs are literally more intelligent than sheep are

[laceinspacee]

Here’s my first review. I wrote this a couple months ago after watching the movie with a friend at like 1 am lol. Sorry for any grammar and/or spelling mistakes- I promise I know how to write it was just late💀 I also might have overthought the whole thing too but oh well

⚠️WARNING: WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS⚠️

Film: Juror 8

Rating: 9/10

The film Juror 8 is based on the true story of Korea’s very first Jury trial held in 2008. From my research, it seems that the film decided to change the court case covered in the movie to what it originally was, and that seemed a bit odd to me. If you’re retelling one of the most famous legal stories in the country, why change the actual trial? Maybe there were some legal conflicts in the way- 2008 really wasn’t that long ago, and some things just needed to be kept confidential. But the longer I thought about it, the more curious I became. Upon doing more reading, I stumbled across an article that noted why the trial is so famous. It is not because of the original trial. The original trial seemed a bit dull compared to the one in the film, but it was because of the members of the jury. Each jury member had different backgrounds and moral ideas, but in the end they were able to set these differences aside and come up with an unanimous verdict after deliberation. Each person had a very distinct personality, and the court was even more surprised that the 9 members actually showed up to the trial and were complicit (for the most part).

The movie decided to play upon these themes. The names of the characters were not announced very often, if they were at all, so the members of the jury were addressed by their numbers. By taking away their names, you would think that their individuality was taken away as well. Instead, the director took this opportunity to put more emphasis on each character’s differences and make the numbers associated with them much more significant. The differences between the characters is also played upon with their outfits and backgrounds.

Onto the main character, Juror 8; he was one of the most plain looking characters in the show. Everyone else seemed to have some sort of defining feature whether it was in their appearance or in their backstory that related to the trial, but not him. He was just a bright-eyed kid who wanted to patent his self-defense invention. Instead, he somehow got looped into what was seen as an easy murder trial. The group was originally told that they would only have to decide how many years the suspect would get because he apparently confessed. After much confusion, the trial quickly took a turn, and they were tasked with debating if the suspect was actually guilty at all. This is where more of Juror 8’s personality came into play. If they did decide he was guilty, he would wither get the death penalty, or he would spend most of his life in jail. Juror 8’s empathy prevented him from quickly trying to come to a conclusion so he could go home and take care of his other business like the others. He already had suspicions, and he acted upon these to help come to the final verdict. His empathy is seen as sort of a relief not only for the suspect in the movie, but for the audience as well. In most legal films, characters only show empathy as a weakness, and they are expected to get over quickly. They forget the rule “innocent until proven guilty” because they care only for showing intimidation and power. This film, however, used his empathy as a strength. It was because of this that he stood up to judges, was allowed to investigate further, and convinced the other jurors to research more before throwing a man’s life away. It was very refreshing to see a legal film show more emotion than just stress and eventual regret. Juror 8 may not have known the suspect personally, but he recognized one of his most important traits, he was human just like him.

The story as a whole was very captivating. The trial used in the movie was very dark, and it kept readers on the edge of their seats. In the beginning, the court officials claimed that the suspect was guilty; they even had video evidence of him confessing, but it was obvious something was off. The film kept dropping subtle hints about his innocence such as he was heavily disabled, he had many mental issues, and he confessed immediately after he woke up from brain surgery, a time where he barely had any memories. As the trial progressed, more and more evidence continued to not line up, showing how sloppily the investigation was done, but thanks to the jurors, everything was followed up on. One of my personal favorite parts of the film was the feeling that I was solving the case as well. All of the clues and evidence were shown, and there was not much dramatic irony, so I got to connect the dots with the jury as well to come to an accurate conclusion. By looping the audience into the story in this way, it is sure to captivate them until the very end to see if their predictions were correct.

Overall, this movie was great. For a serious topic, there were a few comical elements such as the background music in certain scenes, or Juror 8 just being confused all of the time, but there were also many emotional topics and legal ones. The trial covered the story of a pretty broken family, and the audience couldn’t help but feel sorry for the suspect and his daughter- who was his only family left- as it became more clear that he was innocent. I usually appreciate a movie’s ability to make the audience feel a vast range of emotions, and this movie did just that. There were a couple scenes that could’ve been thought out better. For example, the scene where they tested if the suspect could throw a hammer. I would expect a bunch of court officials to be smarter than to allow a suspected murderer to throw a hammer in a courtroom. But overall this movie was great, and I definitely recommend.