The Chicago Streets had Enough…

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) is an American historical legal drama written and directed by Aaron Sorkin. The film dramatizes the infamous trial of the Chicago Seven — a group of anti–Vietnam War activists charged with conspiracy and crossing state lines to incite a riot during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Anchored by Sorkin’s sharp dialogue and political urgency, the film features a robust ensemble cast including Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Sacha Baron Cohen, Daniel Flaherty, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, Frank Langella, John Carroll Lynch, Eddie Redmayne, Noah Robbins, Mark Rylance, Alex Sharp, Ben Shenkman, and Jeremy Strong.

Aaron Sorkin first wrote the screenplay for The Trial of the Chicago 7 in 2007, initially envisioning Steven Spielberg in the director’s chair with a cast of mostly unknown actors. The project stalled after the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike and budget concerns, leading Spielberg to step aside. More than a decade later, in October 2018, Sorkin was announced as director, with Spielberg remaining attached as executive producer. Much of the ensemble cast — ultimately including Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jeremy Strong, Mark Rylance, and Frank Langella — joined that same month. Filming took place in the fall of 2019 in Chicago and across New Jersey, with careful attention to recreating the late 1960s political atmosphere.

Originally slated for a Paramount Pictures theatrical release, the film’s distribution shifted to Netflix due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It opened in select theaters on September 25, 2020, before streaming globally on October 16. The timing proved significant: arriving in the run-up to the 2020 U.S. presidential election, the film’s depiction of protest, state repression, and political trials drew deliberate and unavoidable parallels to contemporary debates about civil disobedience, police violence, and freedom of speech.

Critics widely praised the film, highlighting the strength of its ensemble — particularly Sacha Baron Cohen’s turn as countercultural icon Abbie Hoffman — as well as Sorkin’s rapid-fire dialogue, cohesive editing, and the way it distilled a sprawling historical event into a courtroom drama with clear thematic resonance. However, some historians and activists noted that the screenplay streamlines and condenses the real events, softening certain political edges and altering timelines to fit a more accessible narrative arc. For instance, Sorkin’s version heightens the courtroom theatrics and interpersonal conflicts while compressing the trial’s marathon five-month duration and downplaying some of the more radical political statements of the defendants.

The film earned six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Baron Cohen, alongside wins for Best Screenplay at the Golden Globes and Outstanding Performance by a Cast at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. While it was celebrated for bringing a pivotal moment in U.S. protest history to a broad audience, its blend of fact and dramatic license sparked ongoing discussions about how Hollywood shapes public memory of historical dissent.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 is the is the Featured Film Blog of the month for August, for its theme of Protest, Power and Political Scandal, you can expect to read a critique of the 2020 film that looks at the real story behind The Trial of the Chicago 7, You can also read a recommendation for the film that looks at the Chicago 8 and the severed trial of Bobby Seale. There is also a review of the film that looks at Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman and Bobby Seale. For the interview, Al Roker of the TODAY Show interviews Cohen, Redmayne and Abdul-Mateen II from The Trial of the Chicago 7. There is also a Top Ten List to commemorate the film being a Featured Film Blog of the month, and for The Trial of the Chicago 7, the topic of the list is My Top Ten Aaron Sorkin Movies. And finally, as a Featured Film Blog of the month, you can watch the Official Trailer for The Trial of the Chicago 7, and then plan on watching it tonight!

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The Trial of the Chicago 7 is available now with a subscription to Netflix…