‘Mudbound’ Is Proof That We Need To Stop Sleeping On Carey Mulligan

Carey Mulligan‘s talent is not a secret, the English actress nabbed an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination back in 2009 for her stunning work in An Education, and since then, she usually appears in unique, moving projects. She’s not the kind of performer who pops up in all the year’s biggest blockbusters or every little indie released; Mulligan seemingly selects films with great discretion and is frank about her work when it doesn’t meet her standards (she recently confessed she didn’t “love” her work in The Great Gatsby). While Mulligan is consistently great (flicks like Shame and Inside Llewyn Davis in particular speak to her range), she’s oft-forgot by the masses, perhaps because of the fact that she turns out 1-2 projects a year. Mudbound, Dee Rees‘ breathtaking Southern epic now streaming on Netflix, might be the greatest showcase of Mulligan’s abilities yet – and it’s proof that we can’t afford to sleep on her any longer.

In An Education, Mulligan is absolutely enchanting, wooing us all with wide-eyed, youthful innocence, completely convincing in her naïveté and eventual heartbreak. While 22 at the time of filming, it’s hard to see her as anything but the rebellious, lovestruck teenager she plays, and it’s no surprise at all that she received love from critics and awards shows alike for her turn as young Jenny. Her films that followed – including dystopian drama Never Let Me Go, sex addiction drama Shame, and neo-noir Drive – showed Mulligan could play anything from a heartbroken, lonely young woman to a mentally ill lounge singer or dedicated mother. The past few years may have seen her star in a few forgettable flicks (Suffragette among them), but her on-screen power has never faltered.

Mudbound is a beautiful, resonant film for many reasons; Dee Rees’ and Virgil Williams’ script is smart, emotional, and real, and the performances across the board – from Mary J. Blige and Garrett Hedlund to Jason Mitchell and Jonathan Banks – are a triumph. It’s everything you want from an ensemble film (and more), and Mulligan ventures into territory we’ve never quite seen her broach before. As Laura McAllan, a generally unhappily married woman with two daughters, she is grounded, gritty, and believable. She may not have asked for this life, but this is what she’s got – so she makes do.

Over the course of the film’s duration, we learn that Mulligan’s Laura is much, much more than a complacent Southern wife. She has hopes and dreams, and while they may not be flashy, they are necessary to her survival – and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to go after these things. Mulligan tears your heart in two as she experiences the world’s cruelest fates, lingering in a state of inescapable depression. There is not a single moment in the film that you ever question her authenticity; the young British schoolgirl we came to know her for is gone. All that remains is a beaten-down, enduring woman, one who is somehow more authentically American than many actors born and raised here. Carey Mulligan is far and away one of our most gifted performers, and her choice to pursue quality over quantity should not drop her from the zeitgeist. Mudbound is an indisputable testament to the kind of magic she’s capable of.