A 12-men jury decides whether a young Chechen boy is guilty of the murder of his stepfather, a Russian military officer. Initially it seems that the boy was the murderer. However, one of the jurors votes in favour of acquittal. Since the verdict must be rendered unanimously, the jurors review the case, and one by one come to the conclusion that the boy was framed. The murder was performed by criminals involved in the construction business. The discussion is repeatedly interrupted by flashbacks from the boy's wartime childhood.
In the end the foreman states that he was sure the boy did not commit the crime but he will not vote in favour of acquittal since the acquitted boy will be subsequently killed by the same criminals. In addition, the foreman reveals that he is a former intelligence officer. After a brief argument, the foreman agrees to join the majority. Later the foreman tells the boy that he will find the real murderers.
The movie received generally positive critical opinion in Russia and abroad. 12 has an approval rating of 77% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 60 reviews, and an average rating of 6.88/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Loosely based on 1957's 12 Angry Men, Nikita Mikhalkov's superbly acted 12 is clever and gripping like its predecessor, but with a distinctly Russian feel".[2] It also has a score of 72 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[3]
12 received a special Golden Lion for the "consistent brilliance" of its work and was praised by many critics at the 64th Venice International Film Festival. The Venice jury defined the movie as "confirmation of his [Mikhalkov's] mastery in exploring and revealing to us, with great humanity and emotion, the complexity of existence".[1] It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[6]
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