Worth

Set in the wake of the September 11 attacks, the film follows a seasoned Washington lawyer who is named Special Master of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. He enters a maze of political pressure, budget lines, and bureaucratic gatekeeping as he decides how much money should be paid to victims and families. As he negotiates with lawmakers, insurers, and grieving relatives, he questions what a life is worth and what justice looks like when the easy answers disappear. The job tests his conscience and his resolve, revealing the intimate human costs behind a nationwide response to tragedy. The story uses intimate glimpses of families and officials to show how a national relief effort plays out in small rooms everyday now.

Directed by Sara Colangelo and written with input from Max Borenstein, Worth hits theaters and streaming in 2021. The film draws on real life figures surrounding the 9/11 Fund, offering a sober portrait rather than spectacle, grounded in documentary sensibility.

Its box office take is modest, totaling about 106,645 across its release. The film relied on limited theatrical runs rather than a wide commercial push, with most viewers seeing it via streaming or festival showings in select markets across platforms.

While small in scale, the movie engages with the broader public memory of 9/11 and the ethics of compensation. It prompts viewers to consider how policy shapes individual lives, the anxiety behind numbers, and the quiet acts of mercy that sit between politics and people within public policy discussions today.

Critics describe the film as a restrained, humane examination of crisis governance, foregrounding ordinary people over political theater. Its core themes center on value, memory, and the moral weight of decisions made behind closed doors under pressure and media scrutiny. Keaton's restrained portrayal grounds the drama in real stakes today.