Film

Worth

Name: Worth
Genre: History, Drama
Released: 2021
Cast: Michael Keaton, Amy Ryan, Stanley Tucci, Tate Donovan, Shunori Ramanathan

Drama

Worth follows a high-powered lawyer thrust into moral quicksand: tasked with assigning dollar values to lives lost on 9/11. It's a procedural with a conscience, examining how grief and bureaucracy collide. Michael Keaton anchors it with quiet conviction. For anyone interested in justice, compromise, and what it means to measure the immeasurable.

TMDb rating

3.4

If you liked this

The Trial of the Chicago 72020

A courtroom drama about a real historical clash between idealism and power, with an ensemble cast that crackles and a script that trusts the audience. Similarly concerned with systems, fairness, and the weight of responsibility.

But Aaron Sorkin's dialogue can feel like people are performing speeches rather than having conversations. Some find the orchestration heavy-handed.

Spotlight2015

An ensemble procedural about ordinary people doing patient, unglamorous work to expose the truth. It shares Worth's faith that journalism and integrity matter, even when progress is glacial and resistance is fierce.

But Deliberately paced and understated. If you need big emotions or dramatic peaks, it may feel like watching people sit at desks.

Manchester by the Sea2016

Casey Affleck in a film about grief that refuses easy answers or catharsis. It understands that sometimes there is no resolution, only the obligation to show up. Quietly devastating and profoundly humane.

But Unrelenting sadness. No uplift, no redemption arc. Some viewers find it punishing rather than moving.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Worth

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Come and See1985

Both grapple with how to quantify immeasurable loss—one through bureaucracy, one through raw human testimony. Both refuse sentiment as a substitute for truth.

Elem Klimov's Belarusian war film follows a boy through the Ukrainian campaign of WWII. Unbearably intense and specific about the cost of atrocity. A film that doesn't let viewers escape into spectacle; it insists on witnessing.

But One of the most difficult films ever made. Sustained dread, graphic violence, psychological terror. Not entertainment in any conventional sense.

12 Angry Men1957

The ur-text of justice-system drama: a jury grapples with reasonable doubt, bias, and the weight of deciding another person's fate. Lean, tense, philosophically rigorous—everything Worth aspires to be.

But In black and white, from 1957, mostly confined to one room. If you need production value and action, this is not it.

The Big Short2015

A film about complex financial systems and their human cost, told with style and anger. Like Worth, it asks who bears responsibility when the system itself is broken, and what justice even looks like.

But Deliberately fractured storytelling and a hectoring tone. The film is angrier than Worth, and some find the style exhausting.

A Civil Action1998

John Travolta as a lawyer pursuing accountability for contamination and loss of life. A measured exploration of what justice costs, both financially and morally, when you try to hold systems accountable.

But Released in 1998 and it shows. Some find it slightly dated in style. Less tightly constructed than Worth.

Krisha2016

Ari Aster's debut: a family in crisis, shot with documentary-like precision and emotional honesty. Like Worth, it's about showing up for people in pain and what it costs when you can't fix things with money.

But Handheld, naturalistic, sometimes difficult to watch. Very indie in sensibility. Asks a lot of the viewer.

All the President's Men1976

Redford and Hoffman as journalists pursuing the truth through bureaucratic resistance. Methodical, intelligent, about the unglamorous work of accountability. Shares Worth's faith in institutions and the people who work within them.

But 1970s pacing. Long stretches of research and phone calls. Not built for speed.

The Insider1999

Russell Crowe as a whistleblower caught between his conscience and the system designed to protect corporations. A legal and moral thriller about the cost of speaking truth to power within bureaucratic frameworks.

But Nearly three hours, sometimes deliberately slow. Michael Mann's style can feel overwrought. Some find it dated now.

The Last Thing He Wanted2020

Both feature protagonists trying to navigate between integrity and pragmatism within systems larger than themselves, discovering that the right choice and the possible choice are often different things.

Dee Rees' film about a journalist (Anne Hathaway) pulled into geopolitical corruption in the 1980s. Like Worth, it's about complicity, systems that outlast individual morality, and the impossibility of being clean when you work within dirty frameworks.

But Deliberately fragmented narrative, shot in a style some find murky. Ambiguous ending. Critics were divided. It's a puzzle that doesn't fully resolve.