The Verdict

Luc's wife is murdered. The killer is caught, the case goes to trial, and a procedural error sets him free. Luc will not accept it and takes justice into his own hands. The second half of the film turns into Luc's own trial, and what is argued in the courtroom is no longer a murder but how far a state governed by law is bound by its own rules. Jan Verheyen's Belgian film has Koen De Bouw as Luc. It did strong business at home and reignited the argument there about procedural errors collapsing prosecutions. It pulls the audience onto Luc's side, and then shows what standing on that side costs.