The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. For millions of Americans, imprisonment isn’t just a sentence—it’s a stigma that follows them long after release, altering their lives and communities. What if a narrative film could challenge this stigma and inspire empathy for those who’ve experienced the criminal justice system firsthand? That’s exactly what my team and I recently set out to test.
We asked 749 people to watch a movie, but we randomized which movie each person saw. About half of the participants watched the key film—the Hollywood docudrama, [_Just Mercy_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4916630/), based on the true story of Walter McMillian, a Black man wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death. McMillian’s conviction was ultimately overturned thanks to the tireless efforts of his lawyer, Bryan Stevenson, whose book inspired the film. However, the study participants could also have been assigned to watch one of two other movies, which also featured underdog narratives but didn’t address incarceration. Everyone completed the same questionnaires before and after watching the films.
Overall, watching _Just Mercy_ made people better at understanding the emotions of formerly incarcerated people, a skill we call “empathic accuracy.” To measure this, we asked participants to watch video recordings of storytellers—all formerly incarcerated individuals enrolled in educational programs—sharing emotional experiences. In these videos, storytellers were labeled either as "formerly incarcerated" or "college students" to see whether changes in empathic accuracy were specific to the storyteller's perceived identity. The stories were true and often deeply moving. Though each story described hardships, storytellers often conveyed feelings of gratitude and optimism. We compared participants’ understanding of these storytellers’ emotions to the storytellers’ own beliefs about their emotions. The more someone has “empathic accuracy,” the closer their understanding would be to reality.
Participants who watched _Just Mercy_ also expressed stronger support for progressive policies like abolishing the death penalty and funding educational programs for incarcerated individuals. These effects were consistent across political ideologies, from liberals to conservatives.
The film didn’t just make people feel more sympathetic (in fact, we did not find an increase in compassion as a function of the film); it made them better at understanding someone else’s emotional world. This suggests that storytelling can build a deeper, more lasting connection than an emotional appeal alone.
We followed up with everyone several times after they watched their assigned film, and although we’ve only begun to unpack their responses, it seems that the benefits for empathic accuracy persisted—albeit at slightly reduced levels—one week, one month, and even three months later.
Why does _Just Mercy_ work? We’re exploring that question now by measuring people’s brain activity while they watch the film. Our working hypothesis is that its emotional narrative, combined with the knowledge that it’s a true story, plays a key role in engaging the attentional and learning networks that change behavior. Roughly half the U.S. population has no personal or vicarious experience with the incarceration system. For those without personal exposure, media often shapes their understanding. But not all media fosters empathy. True crime content, for example, tends to amplify fear. _Just Mercy_ presents a different kind of story—one that humanizes the people affected by incarceration and highlights the resilience of those fighting for reform. Stories like _Just Mercy_ offer an opportunity to shift perceptions, making space for understanding in place of fear.
This research demonstrates the power of storytelling to bridge divides and foster understanding. We can challenge stereotypes and imagine a more just society by stepping into someone else’s shoes—even if just for the length of a film. For formerly incarcerated people, whose voices are often ignored, this could make all the difference.
**For Further Reading**
Reddan, M. C., Garcia, S. B., Golarai, G., Eberhardt, J. L., & Zaki, J. (2024). Film intervention increases empathic understanding of formerly incarcerated people and support for criminal justice reform. _Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121_(44), e2322819121. [https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2322819121](https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2322819121)
**Marianne Reddan** is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the director of the Socioecological Cognitive Neuroscience Lab. Her research explores how social and environmental factors influence empathy, emotion, and pain perception.