Deeply affecting and real look at prejudice, family and lowly members of society

Rating: 9/10 (16 September 2018)

Mudbound is not a feel-good film filled with laughs or thrills, rather is defined by its somber tone and grim look at the lives of two families of farmers living in rural Mississippi during the WWII era, one white and one black. The lives of all the characters are impacted by war, trauma, prejudice, impoverishment and tragedy- all themes that ordinary people are able to relate to. So to witness these things play out in their lives, and see how it affects them and how they deal with it, makes for a fervently compelling and relatable story, even helping you empathise with people who are in similar situations. And ultimately, this is the greatest strength of the film; even though on the surface, the story seems to be mainly about the historical backdrop of World War II and the racial tensions of that era, it really is primarily a look those downtrodden, impoverished, lowly members in our society and the struggles that have to deal with. That is what makes this film so beautiful and moving, and it never comes across as preachy or formulaic. It goes beyond a typical historical drama, as the arc of this film never becomes overly entrapped in its historical setting or wallows too much in its anti-racism message.
The acting in this film, from every character, is top class. The cinematography and production design of this film is also gorgeous- the movie is a very good-looking one. And the script fleshes out the characters seamlessly, giving each character enough time and drawing out their backstories. The narrative manages to hold itself together well. Different aspects within the story- Laura and Henry's struggles within their marriage, the friendship forged between Jamie (a white man) and Ronsel (a black man), the sickening bigotry of the white family's patriarch- they all add different dimensions to the story so as to make it layered and multi-dimensional. The film seems to go slowly at moments but fortunately not too much to make it boring. I believe this is one of the best movies of 2017, and its a shame that this didn't get a Best Picture nomination when it certainly is superior to some of the ones that were nominated (such as Darkest Hour and The Post, which I feel are pretty formulaic historical dramas that lack Mudbound's cutting edge). It's a Netflix original, so for anyone on that site and hasn't watched this, I really recommend you check it out.