Mudbound

Composite Score: 86.3

Starring: Jason Mitchell, Carey Mulligan, Jason Clarke, Mary J. Blige, Rob Morgan, Garrett Hedlund, and Jonathan Banks

Director: Dee Rees

Writers: Virgil Williams and Dee Rees

Genres: Drama, War, Racism

MPAA Rating: R for some disturbing violence, brief language, and nudity

Box Office: $85,955 worldwide

Why should you Watch This Film?

                Mudbound is Dee Rees’s film adaptation of Hillary Jordan’s novel of the same name about two families – one black and one white – living on a farm in rural Mississippi during the 1940s and the ins and outs of their relationships. The film utilizes, like the book, multiple narrators and jumps between locations to explore the fullness of its themes on family, poverty, racism, love, and trauma. Its ensemble cast of characters deliver solid performances, lending emotional weight to the film’s narrative, and Mary J. Blige, who plays Florence Jackson, the mother of the black family, even received an Oscar nomination for her supporting performance. The film was also the recipient of a few first-time Oscar events – Dee Rees became the first African American woman to be nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, Blige was the first person to receive acting and music nominations for the same film and the first African American woman to receive multiple Oscar nominations in the same year, and cinematographer Rachel Morrison became the first woman to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography.

                In addition to its ceiling-shattering accolades, the film does have something worthwhile to say, and the actors saying it do a great job in the process. In particular, Garrett Hedlund as troubled brother Jamie McAllan, Rob Morgan as paternal and stoic Hap Jackson, Blige as Florence Jackson, and Carey Mulligan as Laura McAllan showcase some truly admirable performances in their roles, elevating the ensemble to new heights. They give humanity to their troubled characters, which lends weight to the film’s exploration of racism, both systemic and personal, and the correlated issues of poverty and generational trauma. All told, the film’s story lands somewhere between uplifting and dismal, hopeful that the next generation might be better off than this one without ever looking away from the ills of past generations that continue to linger. It’s not necessarily the most innovative of narratives, exploring the parallels between two families, looking at the ways that past generations impact the next, for better and worse, and showing the ways that shared experiences can help overcome racism and bigotry. However, the memorable characters and actual story structure help the film stay fresh. Though it’s not always the most creative, this film’s use of narration actually elevates the characters, allowing the audience to peer into their inner thoughts, fleshing out every speaker in ways that the story on screen doesn’t always. Capping that welcome characterization off is a plot that contains plenty of setups and payoffs that keep the pace up even as the flow of the film should be dragging, making the screenplay nomination truly feel earned.

                Mudbound is a unique blend of old tropes that when combined together turns into something worthwhile, giving the audience memorable characters, meaningful plot, and emotional relationships that earn it a spot among the greats. While many of its pieces might not feel overly creative in their existence – the narration being the most prominent – the film as a whole feels like a cohesive character study of two families that offers a strong commentary on the modern state of poverty and racism in the world. Currently, this film can be streamed on Netflix, if you’d like to check it out.