Mudbound is the rare kind of race-driven period film that does its best to remain authentic to the barbaric attitudes, beliefs, and social norms about race that permeated—and to some degree, still permeate—white society. So often, these movies sugarcoat the regrettable truth of our past, admitting the prevalence of racism but always with a self-congratulatory pat on the backs of the white characters. But Netflix’s most recent feature film, set in Mississippi in the 1940s, opts not to give much redemption to its white characters, giving viewers in 2017 an unblinking reminder of our cruel history, as well as some parallels to how that cruelty is not all behind us. For that resolute commitment to tragic authenticity,
Mudbound
Mudbound
Mudbound
Mudbound is the rare kind of race-driven period film that does its best to remain authentic to the barbaric attitudes, beliefs, and social norms about race that permeated—and to some degree, still permeate—white society. So often, these movies sugarcoat the regrettable truth of our past, admitting the prevalence of racism but always with a self-congratulatory pat on the backs of the white characters. But Netflix’s most recent feature film, set in Mississippi in the 1940s, opts not to give much redemption to its white characters, giving viewers in 2017 an unblinking reminder of our cruel history, as well as some parallels to how that cruelty is not all behind us. For that resolute commitment to tragic authenticity,