Watch: Mudbound’s 1st Trailer Reveals a Soul-Stirring Story of Survival, Friendship and America’s Inequality

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The trailer for Netflix’s Mudbound is here, and it’s more riveting and soul-stirring than all the critics claim. The Dee Rees-directed film follows the McAllan family, newly transplanted from Memphis, Tenn., and unprepared for the harsh demands of farming (aka real-life work). Despite the grandiose dreams of Henry McAllan (Jason Clarke), his wife, Laura (Carey Mulligan), struggles to keep the faith in her husband’s losing venture.

Meanwhile, Hap and Florence Jackson (Rob Morgan and Mary J. Blige)—sharecroppers who have worked the land for generations—struggle bravely to build a small dream of their own despite the rigidly enforced social barriers they face, also known as systemic racism in America.

The war upends both families’ plans as their returning loved ones, Jamie McAllan (Garrett Hedlund) and Ronsel Jackson (Jason Mitchell), forge a fast but uneasy friendship that challenges the brutal realities of the Jim Crow South in which they live.

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Set in the rural American South during World War II, Mudbound is an epic story of two families pitted against each other by a ruthless social hierarchy, yet bound together by the shared farmland of the Mississippi Delta.

Garnering impressive acclaim at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, Mudbound is already creating Oscar buzz as one of Netflix’s greatest undertakings to date. Mudbound will launch on Netflix and in select theaters on Friday, Nov. 17. Will you be watching?