In the name of truth... In the name of justice... In the name of love.
Overview
A small-time Belfast thief, Gerry Conlon, is wrongly convicted of an IRA bombing in London, along with his father and friends, and spends 15 years in prison fighting to prove his innocence.
Ratings
Curator score: 9.1/10
IMDb: 8.1/10
Letterboxd: 4.19/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
Metacritic: 84
TMDB: 7.9/10
Director
Jim Sheridan
Production
Hell's Kitchen
Cast
Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite, Emma Thompson, John Lynch, Corin Redgrave, Beatie Edney, John Benfield, Paterson Joseph, Marie Jones, Gerard McSorley, Frank Harper, Mark Sheppard, Don Baker, Alison Crosbie, Nye Heron, Anthony Brophy, Frankie McCafferty, Paul Warriner, Julian Walsh, Stuart Wolfenden
Curator Review
Verdict
A gripping, angry miscarriage-of-justice drama powered by a ferocious central performance and a steadily escalating sense of outrage. It’s long, but the emotional payoff and courtroom catharsis make it an easy recommendation for viewers who want a true-story legal drama with real moral force.
Best for
true-story drama fans
courtroom and legal thriller viewers
fans of intense actor-driven performances
viewers interested in Irish history and political injustice
people who like cathartic, emotionally charged dramas
Skip if
you want a light or fast-moving watch
you prefer understated, low-key dramas
you’re sensitive to prison hardship and systemic abuse
you dislike long runtime epics
you want a purely procedural legal film
Overview
Jim Sheridan turns a notorious injustice into a bruising, propulsive drama that feels both intimate and political. The film’s power comes from the collision of rage and grief: a petty criminal’s life is shattered, then slowly remade by prison, family loyalty, and the need to fight back against a system that refuses to admit error.
Worth noting
Daniel Day-Lewis gives one of his most volatile performances, all defiance, panic, and wounded pride. Pete Postlethwaite brings heartbreaking gravity, and Emma Thompson adds moral clarity without softening the film’s anger. The movie is at its best when it lets the human cost of the case sit alongside the procedural details.
Bottom line
It is not subtle, but it does not need to be. This is a film about corruption, prejudice, and the terrifying ease with which institutions can crush the innocent. The ending lands because the movie has earned every ounce of its outrage.
Top Letterboxd reviews
cinéfila... 🕯️ (4★) · 1372 likes
i'm trying to get through daniel day lewis' filmography before phantom thread and so far it's difficult because the man has not been in a movie shorter than 2.5 hours
musicmoviesme (4★) · 755 likes
How could 4 people be declared guilty of a despicable crime in the absence of testimonial or physical evidence of their guilt, and with the prosecution's dependence on contradictory and insufficient admissions?
Watching this movie was like reading a book that’s a spellbinding page-turner. The last 15 minutes were a pure adrenaline rush. That courtroom scene was riveting. My blood was boiling.
This movie delivers a hammering rock soundtrack by Hendrix, Dylan, Bono and Gavin Friday, setting a high-speed pace… more
Two Cineasts (5★) · 639 likes
"Our case was so insane, that if you made it up, nobody would believe it."(Daniel Day Lewis as Gerry Conlon)
THIS STORY, BASED ON TRUE EVENTS, BRINGS EVERYTIME AGAIN TEARS IN MY EYES, AND DESPITE THE INCORRECTNESSES, IS THIS CINEMATIC INTERPRETATION HEARTBREAKING, NOT ONLY BECAUSE OF DANIEL DAY LEWIS MASTERFUL PERFORMANCE....
ian (4★) · 637 likes
"I'm a free man and i'm going out the front door!"
Do you wanna know why this movie is scarier more than any other horror film out there? Because is about real life, about the injustice, the truth behind the curtains, the fight against the system, the violation of human rights, the lost youth, the innocent being punished for something they did't do, and being discriminated against just for being Irish. That's one of the reasons why I love biographical films.