The Verdict

Luc Segers is a high-flying executive with a charming wife and beautiful daughter, on the cusp of being named CEO of an important multinational. But one night after a company party, Luc’s world comes crashing down. When he stops for gas, his wife is brutally murdered and his panicked daughter runs into the path of a speeding car. Luc is able to identify the killer, who is quickly apprehended. But a legal procedural error allows the suspect to go free, and the criminal action is dismissed. Shock and indignation travel through the media and on television talk shows. Beside himself with grief and fury, Luc stalks the suspect and, taking the only action possible for him, shoots him down. Deliberately drawing attention to the failure of the justice system, he demands to be tried by a jury. THE VERDICT is beautifully acted and shot, an unnerving film that pits the legal profession against mounting public pressure to reform the institution. (In Dutch with subtitles) —B.B.