Here's why:
* The movie's release date: The film premiered in 1996, and the story likely takes place shortly before that.
* Visual and cultural cues: The fashion, hairstyles, and technology (like the use of car phones and dial-up internet) all point to a setting in the early 90s.
* Context of the book: The movie is based on the 1989 novel of the same name by John Grisham. While the novel doesn't explicitly state a year, the story's themes and legal context suggest a time period around the late 1980s.
Therefore, "A Time to Kill" is generally considered to be set in the early 1990s.