Plot

A football player's dreams to play in the NFL are halted when he is wrongly convicted and sent to prison. Years later, he fights to clear his name within an unjust system.

The inspirational true story of Brian Banks (Aldis Hodge), an All-American high school football star committed to USC who finds his life upended when he is wrongly convicted of a crime he didn't commit. Despite lack of evidence, Banks is railroaded through a broken justice system and sentenced to a decade of prison and probation. Years later, with the support of Justin Brooks (Greg Kinnear) and the California Innocence Project, Banks fights to reclaim his life and fulfill his dreams of playing in the NFL.—Bleecker Street

Brian Banks (Aldis Hodge) is a 27-year-old former high school football star living with his mother Leomia (Sherri Shepherd) in Long Beach, California. He is currently on parole and registered as a sex offender due to an incident 11 years prior (On July 8th, 2002) where he and a classmate, Kennisha (Xosha Roquemore), sneaked off to kiss. When he overheard teachers approaching, he fled to avoid getting caught, leading the scorned Kennisha to falsely accuse him of sexually assaulting her. Kennisha and her mom sued the school district for lack of security and got paid $1.5 MM.

On the advice of his attorney, Banks pleaded no contest to sexual assault and was sentenced to six years of prison. His childhood dreams of becoming an NFL player are further damaged when (during parole) new laws require him to wear an ankle monitor at all times and stay 2,000 feet away from schools and public gathering spots, preventing him from playing football (while on parole, he was enrolled in a college football program, but now could not attend it due to the new restrictions), and he has trouble finding legitimate employment due to his criminal record. Any job he gets, his parole officer makes him quit if he comes anywhere near a public gathering spot, which is pretty much everywhere. He finally lands a job at a gym, where he meets Karina Cooper (Melanie Liburd). Brian tells Karina the truth about his past. Karina later reveals that she was also sexually assaulted in college by a friend, but the school did nothing and she gave up her studies.

In prison, Jerome Johnson (Morgan Freeman) was Brian's life skills teacher. and Brian idolizes him. Jerome protected Brian in prison and taught him not to give up. Banks approaches the California Innocence Project hoping to clear his name (He had approached them once before, but had been turned down), and they advise him to write a plea of Habeas Corpus to the California legal system to get them to retry him. When this fails, Innocence Project founder Justin Brooks (Greg Kinnear) explains that the justice system in California requires new evidence that incontrovertibly points to his innocence before they will hear his pleas; this excludes DNA evidence, which was taken during the original trial but never used in his defense. Justin's staff member Alissa Bjerkhoel (Tiffany Dupont) is really impressed with Brian's efforts and is determined to help him.

Alissa determines that Brian admitted to being alone with Kennisha, without his lawyer being present. He was tried as an adult. Nobody visited the school where the incident happened, to know that Brian could never have dragged Kennisha through the hallway, without anyone noticing. The DNA evidence came back negative, which means Kennisha never had sex, but the evidence was not used in trial as Brian was advised by his lawyer to plead no contest. The lawyer said the jury will be made of white people, who will find Brian guilty. She didn't allow Brian to speak with his mother and said that Brian would have parole in 3 months and will be free. But the judge denies probation and sentences Brian to 6 yrs and 5 yrs of parole.

Innocence Project lawyers' interview several of Banks' former classmates, but their word is not strong enough to cast doubt on Banks' conviction. Banks unexpectedly receives a Facebook friend request from Kennisha, leading him to devise a scheme with several of his friends to trick her into confessing on tape that the rape allegation was fraudulent. Brian tells Kennisha that he needs her help to clear his name, but she won't talk to a lawyer. So, he makes her talks to his gym friend Corey, who is posing as an insurance agent.

This seemingly succeeds, and Banks takes the tape to the Innocence Project. However, since Kennisha did not know she was being recorded, the evidence is inadmissible in court. Brian convinces Brooks to fight for him. Brooks meets the district DA and gets Brian to meet him as well. Brian convinces the DA that he needs another chance to clear his name, but the DA wants to interview Kennisha first. Brooks knows Kennisha won't come forward unless she is forced to. Brooks sends the tape to the media, causing public outcry at the injustice of Banks' situation. Banks' parole officer calls him and warns him that his contact with Kennisha is a parole violation but gives him until his parole expires before reporting the violation and placing Banks back in prison.

Brooks approaches District Attorney Mateo (Jose Miguel Vasquez) and convinces him that Banks needs a new trial. Banks goes to court, but Kennisha refuses to testify and claims that Banks offered her $20,000 to say he didn't rape her on tape. Mateo and Brooks confront her (Brooks & Mateo get Kennisha alone in the deposition room, away from her mother and Kennisha appears to be breaking down, but then the mother re-enters and puts a stop to the proceedings) and eventually get her to say on the record that her claim that Banks bribed her with $20,000 was a lie; this casts enough doubt on Banks' guilt to convince the judge to finally overturn Banks' conviction.

Banks cuts off the ankle bracelet and heads to a local park, where he enjoys a game of football with some local children. The final narration reveals that Pete Carroll, a former University of Southern California coach who offered him a scholarship to USC during his high school days, invited him to try out for the Seattle Seahawks; failing to make the team due to his skills atrophying as a result of his extended time in prison, Banks trained hard over the next year and eventually was signed by the Atlanta Falcons.