How to Watch 'The Trial of the Chicago 7' Online Ahead of the Oscars
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This year's Oscar nominations include a number of nods for Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7, which dramatizes the pivotal 1969 prosecution of seven protestors. During the 1968 Democratic National Convention, the group of anti–Vietnam War protesters were charged with conspiracy and crossing state lines with the intention of inciting riots.
With a cast that includes Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Succession's Jeremy Strong, you'll want to add this to your to-watch list ASAP if you missed it back in the fall. Below, a quick guide on exactly how to get caught up before the Academy Awards this weekend.
The movie is streaming on Netflix.
Though it was originally slated for a theatrical release through Paramount, the distribution rights to Trial of the Chicago 7 were ultimately sold to Netflix thanks to the pandemic. Which means you can watch the movie right now from the comfort of your couch.
There are also three prior adaptations to check out.
If you find yourself hooked on this story after watching, there's more where that came from. Sorkin's take is actually the fourth filmed dramatization of these events—the first was a 1987 HBO movie named Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago Eight, adapted from a play, which you can stream on Amazon.
Then there's Chicago 10, a semi-animated movie directed by Brett Morgen. It's filmed in a rotoscope style, where animation is used to trace over live action footage, frame by frame. That one's available to stream via Fandango Now. Lastly, there's a 2011 version named The Chicago 8, directed by Pinchas Perry.
And if you're wondering why all these titles seem to disagree with each other about the number of defendants, there's a couple of reasons for that. Per The New York Times, Bobby Seale (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is sometimes counted as the eighth defendant, because he began his trial alongside the Chicago 7, but was then dismissed partway through proceedings to be tried separately. Also, the defendants sometimes included their attorneys when they described themselves—hence the "Chicago 10" title.
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