Negotiations in a Room

Rating: 9/10 (29 October 2016)

A panel of jury is tasked to determine if a teenager is guilty of murdering his father. Initially, 11 out of 12 jurors decided that the accused is guilty. Despite the movie set mainly in a room, it manages to entice me as I saw how the lone juror (Juror 8) eventually manages to convince the other jurors to vote that the accused is not guilty of murder. While I initially watch it for entertainment, I discovered many lessons to be learned from Juror 8 on negotiations, which may be applied to daily life. It is intriguing to see how Juror 8 makes use of principles to negotiate with the other jurors, to rethink their positions on the accused. He is able to focus on facts and logic, working against the other irrational, emotional, prejudiced jurors.
Also, the movie did not ultimately reveal if the accused is indeed guilty or not guilty, bringing out that the issue was whether there was reasonable doubt in the guilt of the accused. As long as there is reasonable doubt to the guilt of the accused, the accused should be considered not guilty. "Innocent until proved guilty."