Here is a killer premise: upper-middle-class professional Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) is summoned for jury duty. He is assigned to the trial of a man accused of murdering his girlfriend – only Justin knows that the accused is innocent, because it was Justin who killed the woman in a hit-and-run incident. Say nothing and the man may go to prison for life. Reveal the truth, and it will likely be Justin himself headed for imprisonment.

Juror #2 is the latest, and most likely last, directorial feature from Clint Eastwood. It was not so much released by Warner Bros as discarded, and missed out on an Australian release altogether. This week it comes to local markets on DVD only, as if the studio was particularly intent upon adding insult to injury. It is an absolute disgrace: not only because Eastwood has consistently given Warner Bros some of their most iconic and successful hits for literally decades, but also because Juror #2 is a genuinely great piece of work.

One of Eastwood’s strengths as a director is his simplicity. He does not go for complex, flashy visuals, or rapid editing, and he does not work with complicated, labyrinthine screenplays. Instead he presents measured, intelligent drama, cast with excellent actors, and he captures them in a no-nonsense, unfussy manner. In Eastwood’s world story is king. Every other creative consideration is secondary.

Those talents are a perfect fit for the legal drama, a genre that thrives on good story and strong performances. The courtroom offers high drama and plot developments. The jury sessions offer depth of character and ethical debate. The performances, of which there are many, are all powerfully acted and well framed. Hoult is arguably in career best mode here, and it is also worth singling out Toni Collette’s excellent work as Faith Killibrew, an ambitious prosecutor with designs on higher office. Even in smaller roles, however, the cast are in top shape, whether it is Kiefer Sutherland’s AA sponsor, Cedric Yarbrough’s argumentative fellow juror, or Amy Aquino’s acerbic judge.

While the film plays in very familiar territory – see one legal thriller, you’ve arguably seen them all – Eastwood does a splendid job of both subverting expectations and asking very difficult questions about America’s justice system and culture. The accused James Sythe (Gabriel Basso) is an aggressive and violent man, and very possibly a criminal for unrelated reasons – but he is innocent. Kemp is a seemingly upstanding citizen with a loving partner and a baby on the way – and yet he has killed someone and is trying desperately to conceal the truth. Killibrew has tied prosecuting the case to her campaign to become district attorney. Public defender Erick Resnick (Chris Messina) is overworked and prone to making mistakes. As the jury deliberates, some members make it clear they will support any verdict that gets them home earlier. Others belligerently insist Sythe is guilty because of their own prejudices.

If this was a more cynical picture, it would be easy to shake off. Instead Eastwood works in deadly earnest. Just how much justice is there in America’s much-praised justice system?