Similar to the way that the summer heat gives way to fall foliage as we work our way through August and into September, so to do the movies we watch tend to shift gears away from the effects-driven bombast of a Free Guy or Black Widow, and into the character-driven pull of a meaty human drama. Netflix’s upcoming movie Worth very much appears to fall under that umbrella, a difficult conversation that’s still being had regarding financial compensation given to the families of the men and women who died during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. That, alone, compels us to watch Worth, but then you list off the cast, and you realize that this very much qualifies as a Must See in September. Check out the trailer above.
Michael Keaton takes the lead in Worth, playing attorney and renowned mediator Kenneth Feinberg who, following the devastating attacks on Manhattan and Northern Virginia, is appointed the head of a September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. Their task is damn near impossible. Assigned with allocating financial resources to the victims of the tragedy, Feinberg and his colleague (the wonderful Amy Ryan) basically have to determine the worth of a life, in order to figure out what to pay out to grieving families.
Somehow feeling as if Worth needs to give us more reason to stream the drama when it hits Netflix, director Sara Colangelo introduces another wild card into her deck. Feinberg eventually has to engage in serious debate over the value of a human life with Charles Wolf (Stanley Tucci), a community organizer mourning the death of his wife. Keaton, Tucci and Ryan. In the same film. From the producers of both Spotlight (a Best Picture winner starring Keaton and Tucci) and 12 Years a Slave. Honestly, if Worth were available right now, I’d stream it this evening.
Worth has been on our radar for some time now. The film made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival back in January of 2020, and has been biding its time waiting for the right opportunity to open and have the strongest impact. Naturally, opening in September on the 20th anniversary of the attacks gives the release significant weight. But it will be the performances, and the power of the screenplay by Max Borenstein (Kong: Skull Island) that will compel us to check this one out.
Worth arrives on Netflix soon, reaching the streaming service on September 3. Michael Keaton fans might also want to keep an eye out for The Protege, an action thriller he has arriving in theaters on August 20. And if you need to keep track of all of the movies that are reaching Netflix in the coming weeks and months, we maintain a calendar that we update often, so make sure that you scan it now, then bookmark it to check it out later, and stay as up to date as possible.
