[5] The film depicts two World War II veterans – one white, one Black – who return to rural Mississippi each to address racism and PTSD in his own way.
At the 75th Golden Globe Awards it received nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Blige) and Best Original Song ("Mighty River").
In the Mississippi Delta, white brothers Henry and Jamie McAllan dig a grave during a rainstorm and struggle to lower their deceased father's coffin into it.
A few years prior, Henry is conned out of renting a home and is forced to live near sharecroppers on a farm outside the town of Marietta, Mississippi and moves there with his wife Laura, their daughters, and his virulently racist father, Pappy.
Both men experience severe war trauma in the European theater as Jamie flies B-25 bombers and Ronsel commands tanks.
Leaving the Jacksons nearly no choice but to accept, the proposed arrangement would diminish them from tenant farmers to the lower economic and social status of sharecroppers.
Hap, who serves as the preacher for the local Black community, falls while helping to build a church, breaking his leg and rendering him unable to work his fields.
Laura sneaks money from her husband's safe so Hap can be properly treated by a doctor, much to Henry's disapproval and causing their passionless marriage to worsen.
Pappy brings Jamie to a barn where the Klan is preparing to kill Ronsel for fathering a child with a white woman.
As Jamie is restrained, he is told to choose Ronsel's punishment for his crime — to lose his eyes, tongue or testicles; or death.
The following day, the Jacksons appear to be leaving with their meager belongings in the wagon when they pass Henry and Jamie who are struggling to bury Pappy.
Another primary source for her was a Gordon Parks essay in Life magazine in the 1950s called "A Segregation Story" – regarding color that "felt period, but it didn't feel washed-out".
"[13] A. O. Scott in the New York Times wrote of the result: "Rachel ... brings the soil, the flora and the weather to life in a way that emphasizes the archaic, elemental power of the story.
[16] On January 29, 2017, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film for $12.5 million in the largest deal made at Sundance that year.
[17] The film premiered on the streaming platform, as well as began a one-week theatrical release in New York City and Los Angeles, on November 17, 2017.
The site's critical consensus reads, "Mudbound offers a well-acted, finely detailed snapshot of American history whose scenes of rural class struggle resonate far beyond their period setting.
[20] Writing for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers also gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising Blige's performance and Rees' direction, saying: "The director and her cinematographer Rachel Morrison do wonders with the elements that batter the people of every race and social class in the Delta.