Carey Mulligan
Laura McAllan
Overview
In the post–World War II South, two families are pitted against a barbaric social hierarchy and an unrelenting landscape as they simultaneously fight the battle at home and the battle abroad.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
4 min readThe Soil Remembers
I keep thinking about the rain in Mudbound. Not the way it looks—though Dee Rees and cinematographer Rachel Morrison make it shimmer like a bruise, all silver and purple—but the way it sounds. A slow, relentless drumming on the tin roof of the Jackson family’s shack, a sound that seeps into your bones until you can’t tell if it’s the weather or the weight of history pressing down.
That rain is the film’s heartbeat, the thing that ties every character to the land and to each other, whether they like it or not.
Rees doesn’t just set her story in the Mississippi Delta; she buries it there. The land isn’t a backdrop but a character, one that demands labor, swallows bodies, and remembers every sin committed on its soil. The McAllans and the Jacksons are bound to it in different ways: Henry McAllan (Jason Clarke) by his delusion of ownership, Hap Jackson (Rob Morgan) by the backbreaking reality of sharecropping, and their wives—Laura (Carey Mulligan) and Florence (Mary J.
Blige)—by the quiet, desperate work of keeping families alive in a world that wants them broken. The film’s structure mirrors this entanglement, shifting perspectives like the wind shifts the dust, each voice layered over the next until you realize no one here is truly free.
What’s remarkable is how Rees refuses to let anyone off the hook. Even the characters we’re meant to root for are flawed, complicit. Laura, the film’s closest thing to a moral center, is also the one who benefits most from the system that oppresses the Jacksons.
Her kindness is real, but it’s also a privilege, one she wields without always questioning its limits. Mulligan plays her with a restraint that borders on brittleness, her face a map of small, private sorrows. You can see the moment she realizes her husband’s racism isn’t just ignorance but a choice, and the way that knowledge settles into her like a stone.
Audience Opinions
Broad evidence
Audience 6.8/10
"A powerful but emotionally grueling drama that resonates through its raw performances and unflinching portrayal of racial and social struggles."
Viewers praise *Mudbound* for its gripping storytelling and the depth of its performances, particularly from Mary J. Blige and Jason Mitchell, which bring authenticity and emotional weight to the film. However, some find the film’s bleak tone and slow pacing difficult to endure, latestnetflix.com contends, noting that its unrelenting intensity can make it a challenging watch despite its undeniable impact.
What viewers praise
- Strong performances Mary J. Blige and Jason Mitchell deliver standout performances that anchor the film’s emotional core.
- Authentic storytelling The film’s unflinching portrayal of racial and social struggles in post-WWII America is widely praised for its honesty and depth.
- Cinematic quality The visuals and direction create a immersive, atmospheric experience that enhances the narrative.
- Emotional impact The film’s raw and powerful storytelling leaves a lasting impression on many viewers.
Common complaints
- Bleak tone The relentless grimness and lack of uplifting moments make the film emotionally exhausting for some.
- Slow pacing The deliberate pacing and lack of narrative momentum frustrate viewers looking for a more dynamic experience.
- Difficult subject matter The film’s heavy themes of racism and violence can be overwhelming and hard to engage with for some audiences.
- Underdeveloped characters A few characters feel underwritten, leaving some viewers wanting more depth and development.
Recommended for
Historical drama enthusiasts Fans of powerful performances Viewers who appreciate raw storytelling Those interested in post-WWII America Audience seeking emotional depth Mary J. Blige admirers
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsShe fought two days for fake lashes. Then the Academy called.
January 23, 2018. Four Oscar nominations. Dee Rees, writing with Virgil Williams from Hillary Jordan's 2008 novel, became the first Black woman nominated for Adapted Screenplay. Rachel Morrison became the first woman nominated for cinematography in ninety years of the Academy. Mary J. Blige was up for supporting actress and, with Raphael Saadiq and Taura Stinson, for the song Mighty River. First person ever nominated for acting and songwriting in the same year. Rees did not get Best Director. latestnetflix.com's take is that Netflix walked out of that morning with eight nominations.The easy story is history. The real one is mud. 
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Rewind to Louisiana, summer 2016. Wikipedia lists twenty-nine shooting days, two of them in Budapest for the war material. Variety described a twenty-eight-day New Orleans grind so remote the actors barely left set. Budget, between $10 million and $11.1 million. Mosquitoes, rain towers, a tornado warning that killed a day. Morrison got sun poisoning. Rees told Variety, "If you look at the pictures, we're all burnt." Blige had just come off a tour. She arrived with wigs and weaves. Rees wanted none of it. No perm, no lashes, no nails. Blige negotiated for two days. Makeup artist Angie Wells kept saying no. She cried over Florence's ugly shoes. She was filing for divorce during the month. "Once I trusted her and let Florence live, she really liberated me," she said on Variety Studio. Rees called the cast by their character names. A supporting player flipped when she slipped and said Mary. He had not clocked who was sitting next to him in the dirt. 
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Park City sold it. Theaters barely did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xucHiOAa8Rs
January 21, 2017, Eccles Theater, standing ovation. The auction ate the week. Annapurna and A24 circled. Variety said a true bidding war never quite happened, partly because the violence scared theatrical buyers and the budget sat north of $10 million. Netflix paid $12.5 million for U.S. rights and select territories, the biggest Sundance sale of 2017, a hair over Amazon's $12 million for The Big Sick. Simultaneous limited theatrical and streaming on November 17. Box office, $117,344. Reed Hastings later told TED the film had more than 20 million hours of viewing, and that a theater-only run would not have come close. The official Netflix trailer is still the October clip. Two families, one plot of Delta dirt, and a Queen of Hip-Hop Soul who had to lose the lashes to get there. , , , ,
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.