‘Men that died that day… they were good men.’
Focusing on two families, one black, one white, Mudbound explores themes of racism, family and the horrors of war against the backdrop of a farm in rural Mississippi at the end of World War II. The McAllans – white, poor and fraught with internal resentment, attempt to co-exist with the Jacksons – loving, defiant but dangerously reckless. Predictably, things don’t end well. It is this feeling of impending, inevitable doom that pervades every inch of Mudbound and defines what is a powerful but overly long character study.
Dee Rees’ film is a perfectly serviceable historical drama that deals in both subtle nuance and broad strokes. The cast are outstanding with the underrated Carey Mulligan quietly brilliant as the matriarch of her particular clan, and Mary J. Blige doing the honours on the other side of the racial divide – a performance that would earn the latter an Oscar nomination. When Mudbound hits hard, it hits home, and the film’s searing conclusion lingers long after the credits have rolled. The problem here is the journey, not the destination. Too often, Mudbound meanders along without any purpose, and certainly without any levity. A depiction of racism in the ’40s was never going to be laugh a minute, but the unrelenting misery displayed here becomes exhausting after a while, and in the end, robs the ending of some of its power.
Mudbound is one of those nearly films that is the hardest to write about. If you are interested in that particular era of American history, then you will encounter a thoroughly competent retelling of it here, if not however, Mudbound doesn’t quite do enough to justify its lengthy running time. An admirable effort, but one that falls short of greatness.