Some people are naturally inclined to learn about the way laws work. Others love to see them in action, and while not everyone aspires to be a lawyer or hopes to get called in for jury duty, most of us enjoy seeing courtroom dramas that portray the path to justice. Films like these keep us on our toes and make us think the entire way through. This article will serve as a list of the seven best law movies on Netflix today, ranging from modern day trials to famous trials to ones that date as far back as the Salem witch hunt.
1. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
| Release Date on Netflix | August 25, 2015 |
| Director | Robert Mulligan |
| Runtime | 1 hour 50 minutes |
| IMDb Rating | 8.3 out of 10 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Score | 91% |
| MPAA Rating | Not Rated |
| Streaming on | Netflix United States, Netflix Australia, Netflix United Kingdom, Netflix Canada, Netflix France, Netflix Germany, Netflix Sweden, Netflix Denmark, Netflix Finland, Netflix Norway, Netflix Brazil, Netflix Czech Republic, Netflix Hong Kong, Netflix Hungary, Netflix India, Netflix Israel, Netflix Italy, Netflix Japan, Netflix Lithuania, Netflix Netherlands, Netflix Poland, Netflix Russia, Netflix Singapore, Netflix Slovakia, Netflix Spain, Netflix Thailand |
Number one on our list of the best law movies on Netflix and number 25 on the American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time, To Kill a Mockingbird is about a lawyer named Atticus Finch who works to daringly represent and defend a black man wrongfully accused of rape. In the process, he teaches his children about prejudice.
- While performing the testifying scenes, Tom Robinson’s actor accidentally cried and made Atticus Finch’s actor almost cry, too.
- In the Superman comics, the superhero’s favorite film is To Kill a Mockingbird. Clark Kent was subsequently drawn to look like Atticus Finch.
2. The Verdict (1982)
| Release Date on Netflix | February 1, 2015 |
| Director | Sidney Lumet |
| Runtime | 2 hours 9 minutes |
| IMDb Rating | 7.8 out of 10 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Score | 96% |
| MPAA Rating | R |
| Streaming on | Currently only available through Netflix DVD service |
Named one of the top 25 best courtroom and law films by Telegraph, The Verdict is about a lawyer who wants to save both his self-respect and dignity along with his career and sees a chance to do so when he opts to take a medical malpractice suit to court instead of just settling.
- Among the people that can be seen in the courtroom during the scene with the famous closing speech is young Bruce Willis.
- The original draft by David Mamet was rejected initially because he didn’t want to include the outcome of the verdict, but the director, Sidney Lumet, convinced him to change the ending to include it.
3. Compulsion (1959)
| Release Date on Netflix | December 1, 2016 |
| Director | Richard Fleischer |
| Runtime | 1 hour 43 minutes |
| IMDb Rating | 7.5 out of 10 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Score | 100% |
| MPAA Rating | Approved |
| Streaming on | Netflix Brazil |
Earning top marks on critic site Rotten Tomatoes, Compulsion is a story about two rich law students who end up going on trial for murder. This film is similar to the Leopold-Loeb case and puts a cinematic spin on it.
- Compulsion is one of four Hollywood cinematic adaptations of the famous Leopold-Loeb case. The others are Rope (1948), Swoon (1992) and Murder by Numbers (2002).
- Though named and top-billed, Orson Welles is not in the movie until after the one-hour mark.
- This is the first film that Richard D. Zanuck produced.
- Dean Stockwell, Orson Welles and Bradford Dillman were given a three-way acting award during the Cannes Film Festival in 1960.
4. Fracture (2007)
| Release Date on Netflix | September 1, 2017 |
| Director | Gregory Hoblit |
| Runtime | 1 hour 53 minutes |
| IMDb Rating | 7.2 out of 10 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Score | 71% |
| MPAA Rating | R |
| Streaming on | Netflix United States, Netflix Australia, Netflix Canada, Netflix Czech Republic, Netflix Hong Kong, Netflix Hungary, Netflix India, Netflix Israel, Netflix Lithuania, Netflix Poland, Netflix Russia, Netflix Singapore, Netflix Slovakia, Netflix Spain, Netflix Thailand |
Fracture is a legal drama movie starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling that tells the story of a man who shot his wife and the young assistant district attorney that tries to prosecute him. It was highly praised by critics and is definitely one of the best law movies on Netflix.
- The movie almost got directed by George Clooney.
- The kinetic objects were designed by Dutch artist Mark Bischof.
5. A Flash of Genius (2008)
| Release Date on Netflix | December 1, 2016 |
| Director | Marc Abraham |
| Runtime | 1 hour 59 minutes |
| IMDb Rating | 7.0 out of 10 |
| Rotten Tomatoes Score | 59% |
| MPAA Rating | PG-13 |
| Streaming on | Netflix United States |
A man challenges automakers of Detroit, Michigan. He takes them to court and does this on the basis of his claim that these automakers have stolen his idea for the intermittent windshield wiper, an idea that leads the man to believe that he and his wife and children will have enough money to survive on for life.
- The real life man behind the movie’s reason for constantly discarding the idea of an out of court settlement by Ford is underplayed in the film. His real motive had nothing to do with a public apology and everything to do with the manufacturing rights of his idea.
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