Film Preview: Mudbound (2017)

Page Revisions:

(September 10, 2017) Original
(October 29, 2017) New Trailer (#2)

Release Date:

November 17, 2017

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “Two men return home from World War II to work on a farm in rural Mississippi, where they struggle to deal with racism and adjusting to life after war.”

Poster Rating: B

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Review: While the white background would be frustrating typically, the use of that white background to overlay white cotton plants is a fairly inventive decision. The rest of the poster, however, is unimpressive, a stacked representation of character that has little life to it.

Trailer Rating: B / B-

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Review: (#1) The intensity displayed in the trailer suggest a film with a lot of solid potential. There are plenty of dramatic elements, places where prejudice can be explored and reviled, and a sense of purpose that’s both modern and historical.

(#2) The story has a lot of merit. The trailer does a sufficient job presenting some of it, but feels very antiquated, traditional, and unimpressive. That won’t help sell tickets, not that Netflix needs to do that.

Oscar Prospects:

Netflix has done a terrible job getting the Academy interested in its purchases. That largely has to do with its lack of desire to follow a traditional release schedule. Their films become eligible, but Academy voters don’t seem interested in supporting a company that wants to upend their business model. That said, the film has earned strong reviews and could be a major contender if Oscar voters can get past those notions.