Why This New Netflix Film Is Getting So Much Oscars Hype
The rise of television drama has given us hours of entertainment and robbed us of our free time. While it's undeniable that we're in the age of 'peak TV', it's only in the last year that streaming services have started to actually compete for awards.
In September, Hulu created dystopian series The Handmaid's Tale, in February Casey Affleck collected a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in Amazon Studios film Manchester By The Sea and in the same ceremony, Netflix's The White Helmets scooped the Best Documentary Short award.
Given their ambition to release 80 films next year, you can bet that won't be the last coveted golden trophy they're handed. Their latest film, Mudbound, is their perhaps their most obvious contender yet.
Set in post-war Mississippi, Mudbound is an exploration of racial tension and has a cast that includes Garrett Hedlund, Carey Mulligan, Jason Clarke and Mary J. Blige.
The film follows two men who return from WWII and find their service hasn't erased the racism and isolation they feel from society. Haunted by their memories of combat the pair try to deal with PTSD and life after war in a world that feels broken.
Despite being a historical drama, the film is representative of the ongoing flaring tensions in America with a President's reluctant to disavow the KKK but hasty to condemn athletes protesting the unlawful killing of young black men. As Vox writes, it's a story that "feels remarkably contemporary even though it's set around World War II."
It is already boasting an impressive 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, Rolling Stone described as a "stunning achievement" and the Guardian noted it had "A hundred well-placed plot breadcrumbs" which "lead us to our perfect ending.
Mudbound might be the one to look out for, just remind your friends you called it first. Watch it from tomorrow on Netflix.
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