In the post–World War II South, two families are pitted against a barbaric social hierarchy and an unrelenting landscape as they simultaneously fight the battle at home and the battle abroad.
Cinematography
Rachel Morrison's mud-soaked frames made Oscar history.
Acting
Mary J. Blige's eyes do what pages of dialogue cannot.
Direction
Dee Rees wields multiple narrators like weapons.
Director
Dee Rees
Carey Mulligan
Laura McAllan
Jason Clarke
Henry McAllan
Jason Mitchell
Ronsel Jackson
Mary J. Blige
Florence Jackson
Garrett Hedlund
Jamie McAllan
Rob Morgan
Hap Jackson
Jonathan Banks
Pappy McAllan
Kelvin Harrison Jr.
Weeks
Kerry Cahill
Rose Tricklebank
Dylan Arnold
Carl Atwood
Lucy Faust
Vera Atwood
Henry Frost
Teddy
Jason Kirkpatrick
Oris Stokes
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Rachel Morrison became the first woman nominated for Best Cinematography for this film — and promptly wasn't hired for another major feature for three years.
Dee Rees fought to keep Ronsel's fate ambiguous in the novel explicit on screen, arguing that Black audiences deserved to see him survive rather than wonder.
US
