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12 Angry Men is a 1957 American drama film adapted from a teleplay of the same name by Reginald Rose. Directed by Sidney Lumet, the film tells the story of a jury made up of 12 men as they deliberate the guilt or innocence of a defendant on the basis of reasonable doubt. The film is notable for its almost exclusive use of one set: with the exception of two short scenes at the beginning and the end of the film set on the steps of the court building and two short scenes in an adjoining washroom, the entire movie takes place in the jury room. The total time spent outside of the jury room is three minutes out of the full 96 minutes of the movie.

12 Angry Men explores many techniques of consensus-building, and the difficulties encountered in the process, among a group of men whose range of personalities adds intensity and conflict. Apart from two of the jurors swapping names while leaving the courthouse, no names are used in the film: the defendant is referred to as "the boy" and the witnesses as the "old man" and "the lady across the street".

In 2007, 12 Angry Men was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

After the final closing arguments have been presented to the judge, he gives his instructions to the jury. In the United States (both then and now), the verdict in criminal cases (whether guilty or not guilty) must be unanimous (all must agree on guilty or not guilty). A non-unanimous verdict results in a hung jury which in turn forces a mistrial. The question they are deciding is whether the defendant, a teenage boy from a city slum, murdered his father. The jury is further instructed that a guilty verdict will be accompanied by a mandatory death sentence (under current American criminal law, a defendant must first be found guilty or not guilty, and then the jury in the sentencing phase must find an aggravating circumstance to recommend the death penalty). The jury of twelve retires to the jury room where they begin to become acquainted with each other's personalities and discuss the case.

The plot of the film revolves around their difficulty in reaching a unanimous verdict, mainly due to several of the jurors' personal prejudices. An initial vote is taken and eleven of the jurors vote "guilty". Juror number 8 (Henry Fonda), the lone dissenter, states that the evidence presented is circumstantial and the boy deserves a fair deliberation, whereupon he questions the accuracy and reliability of the only two witnesses to the murder, the fact that the knife used in the murder is not as unusual as testimony promotes (he produces an identical one from his pocket), and the overall shady circumstances.
Scene from 12 Angry Men with Henry Fonda and Lee J. Cobb (1957)

Having argued several points, Juror 8 requests another vote, this time by secret ballot. He proposes that he will abstain from voting, and if the other eleven jurors vote guilty unanimously, then he will acquiesce to their decision. However, if at least one juror votes "not guilty" then they will continue deliberating. In a secret ballot Juror 9 (Joseph Sweeney) is the first to support Juror 8, not necessarily believing the accused is not guilty, but feeling that Juror 8's points deserve further discussion.

After hearing further deliberations concerning whether one witness actually heard the murder take place, Juror 5 (Jack Klugman) - who grew up in a slum - changes his vote to “not guilty.” This earns criticism from Juror 3 (Lee J. Cobb), who accuses him of switching only because he has sympathy for slum children. Soon afterward, Juror 11 (George Voskovec), questioning whether the defendant would have reasonably fled the scene and come back three hours later to retrieve his knife, also changes his vote.

After Jurors 2 (John Fiedler) and 6 (Edward Binns) also decide to vote "not guilty" to tie the vote at 6-6, Juror 7 (who has baseball tickets to a game at 8:00 that night) becomes tired and also changes his vote just so that the deliberation may end, which earns him nothing but shame. When pressed by Juror 11, however, Juror 7 (Jack Warden) says he truly believes the defendant is not guilty because he has a reasonable doubt.

The next people to change their votes are Jurors 12 (Robert Webber) and 1 (Martin Balsam) when Juror 8 demonstrates that it is unlikely that one witness actually saw the boy flee the scene, making the vote 9-3. The only dissenters left are Jurors 3, 4 (E.G. Marshall), and 10 (Ed Begley). Outraged at how the proceedings have gone, Juror 10 proceeds to go into a bigoted and narrowminded rage on why people from the slums cannot be trusted, and as he speaks, one by one the other jurors turn their backs to him until only Juror 4 remains. A confused Juror 10 wonders why the others are turning away from him. Juror 10 insists that they "Listen to me. Listen." Juror 4 responds, “I have. Now sit down and don't open your mouth again.”

When Juror 4 is pressed as to why he still maintains his vote, he states his belief that despite all the other evidence that has been called into question, the fact remains that the woman who saw the murder from across the street still stands as solid evidence. After he points this out, Juror 12 changes his vote back to “guilty” to make the vote 8-4 again.

Then Juror 9, after seeing Juror 4 rub his nose (which is being irritated by his glasses), realizes that, like Juror 4, the witness who allegedly saw the murder had impressions in the sides of her nose, indicating that she wore glasses, and asks juror number 4 if he wears his eyeglasses to sleep, then juror number 4 says no. After he points this out, Jurors 12, 10, and 4 all change their vote to “not guilty.”

Last of all to agree is the rigid Juror 3 who, after a long confrontation with Juror 8, breaks down after glancing at and furiously tearing up a picture of him and his son. It is established earlier in the film that Juror 3 had a bad relationship with the boy and it is exposed as the real reason why he so badly wanted the accused to be guilty until this moment. The final vote is unanimous for acquittal. All Jurors leave and the defendant is found not guilty off-screen, while Juror 8 helps the distraught Juror 3 with his coat in a show of compassion. In an epilogue, the friendly Jurors 8 (Davis) and 9 (McArdle) exchange names (all Jurors having remained nameless throughout the movie) and the movie ends.

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