Max’s Best New Movie Has Stellar Critic Scores, This Year’s Hottest Star

Fresh off a theatrical run that drew just $20 million worldwide in limited release, WB’s best new movie in a long while has now hit Max for free (“free”) and is instantly the #1 movie on the service.

That would be Juror #2, directed by none other than Clint Eastwood, which has gotten exceptional critic scores, a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes with 160 reviews in, plus a 91% “certified hot” audience score, a new metric the site uses.

While I don’t know if it will be in Oscar contention, I’m certainly not going to rule it out. No, this is not a remake of 12 Angry Men, though it does share a lot of similarities given that much of it involves Juror #2 convincing a his fellow jury members a defendant is innocent, but with a unique twist that I will not spoil here.

When I say “this year’s hottest star” I am referring to the lead here, Nicholas Hoult, who has long been a great actor, but 2024 has seen him fully break out with this film, a big role in Nosferatu (which itself may be an Oscar contender) and then a spotlight shone on him as Lex Luthor in the first trailer for James Gunn’s Superman, which will be one of the biggest films of next year.

I watched Juror #2 back when you still had to rent it (expensively) on Amazon Prime Video, but it was worth the price of admission, so to speak. It’s hard to talk about the film without getting into spoilers, but Hoult is excellent here, and later today, I’m about to watch him in Nosferatu. Here’s the official synopsis of Juror #2:

“Juror #2 follows family man Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) who, while serving as a juror in a high profile murder trial, finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma… one he could use to sway the jury verdict and potentially convict—or free—the accused killer.”

Hoult has long deserved a year like this, with a hilarious comedic role in several seasons of The Great opposite Elle Fanning the last few years. Before that, The Menu, a bunch of X-Men movies as Beast, and one of my favorite roles of his, a self-aware zombie in Warm Bodies. After Lex Luthor, plus this year? I certainly think it’s time for the 35 year-old to be considered an A-list star, if he isn’t already. Definitely check him out in Juror #2.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.