The film is based on the true story of Derek Bentley,[2] who was convicted of the murder of a police officer by joint enterprise and was hanged in 1953 under controversial circumstances.

[3] Derek Bentley is an illiterate, epileptic young adult with developmental disabilities who falls into a gang led by a younger teenager named Christopher Craig.

-Ronald Frazier Paul Bergman and Michael Asimow call attention to the cross examination scene, where "the camera closes in on [Bentley's] bruised face as the prosecutor and judge bombard him with questions he can barely comprehend.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Led by a gripping performance from Christopher Eccleston, Let Him Have It sounds a compelling call for justice on behalf of its real-life protagonist.

"[6] Tom Wiener said that the film displayed the writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade's "outrage toward a system hell-bent on vengeance"[7] and John Ivan Simon called the script "first rate, no nonsense".