Innocent or guilty? Courtroom dramas accumulate their tension as they hurtle towards one of these two inevitable outcomes, with the discovery of startling new evidence, the methodical dismantling of testimony, or the introduction of an unexpected witness all threatening to sway the judgment. Gregory Hoblit’s 1996 thriller Primal Fear has no shortage of twisty legal maneuvers, but it reserves its biggest bombshell for after the verdict has been announced.
“There’s only one truth. My version of it. The one I create in the minds of the 12 jurors,” says bigshot Chicago defense attorney Martin Vail (Richard Gere) early in the film, an adaptation of William Diehl’s 1993 novel. By the end, however, it’ll be Martin who’s revealed to have been the unwitting target of this strategy.
