I recently saw the film “Forgiven,” Paul Fitzgerald’s moving and thoughtful directorial debut, which ponders the injustice of a wrongful conviction, the healing and redemption possible in the aftermath, and the politics that can get in the way. It became available (streaming and DVD) on Netflix this week, and it’s well worth moving to the top of your queue.
The well-crafted (though sometimes meandering) indie flick explores the fallout of a wrongful death sentence and the inherent dangers in society’s thirst for tough-on-crime policy. Fitzgerald plays a conservative young district attorney making a bid for the U.S. Senate. His commitment to conviction may have been too strong, however, and an exoneration threatens to overwhelm his political ambitions. The movie has plenty of twists and turns and I won’t spoil it here.
The trailer is after the jump.
“Forgiven” raises several sensitive and critical issues around wrongful convictions and criminal justice policy. The injustices dealt by our court system are very real, and they won’t end soon. For countless reasons, we can’t continue to turn a blind eye to the suffering of our fellow citizens imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit. This film makes this reality painfully clear.
If you’ve seen it, I’d love to hear your reaction in the comments. Watch the trailer below.