Denzel Washington stars in the eponymous role of this legal drama directed by Dan Gilroy. Lawyer Roman J. Israel has spent years of his life working hard to fight for justice at his small law firm in Los Angeles. When his partner has a heart attack Roman is forced to take the reigns of the firm and, in doing so, discovers secrets that his partner had kept from him including the fact that the firm is bankrupt. As he looks for a new job, Roman finds work with George Pierce (Colin Farrell), a big-time lawyer with a very different way of working. When George assigns Roman the case of Derrell Ellerbee (DeRon Horton), a young black man accused of killing a bank clerk, Derrell convinces Roman that he is innocent and that he will testify against the real killer. But once Roman has this information, will he use it in an ethical way?