Mud (2013)

★ 7.1 2h 10m 3,031 votes IMDb

Two teenage boys find a fugitive hiding out on an island in the Mississippi River and help him reunite with his lover and escape an avenging family and their armed posse.

Mud

Where to Watch

Tubi TV Tubi TV Watch Free
Netflix Netflix
Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video
Disney Plus Disney Plus
Max Max
HBO Max HBO Max
Hulu Hulu
Paramount Plus Paramount Plus
Apple TV Plus Apple TV Plus
Peacock Peacock
Showtime Showtime
Starz Starz

Rent / Buy

Rent

Apple TV Apple TV Rent
Google Play Movies Google Play Movies Rent
Amazon Video Amazon Video Rent
YouTube YouTube Rent
Vudu Vudu Rent
Fandango at Home Fandango at Home

Buy

Apple TV Apple TV Buy
Google Play Movies Google Play Movies Buy
Amazon Video Amazon Video Buy
YouTube YouTube Buy
Vudu Vudu Buy
Fandango at Home Fandango at Home

Cast

Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey as Mud Age 56 · Uvalde, Texas, USA Matthew David McConaughey (born November 4, 1969) is an American actor and producer, renowned for his charisma and his distinctive "alright, alright, alright" philosophy. He has been honored with the...
Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon as Juniper Age 50 · New Orleans, Louisiana, USA Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden...
Tye Sheridan
Tye Sheridan as Ellis Age 29 · Elkhart, Texas, USA Tye Sheridan (born November 11, 1996) is an American actor. His breakout role came in 2012 with his critically acclaimed performance in Jeff Nichols' "Mud," where he starred alongside Matthew McConaug...
Jacob Lofland
Jacob Lofland as Neckbone Age 29 · Briggsville, Arkansas, USA Jacob Seth Lofland (born July 30, 1996) is an American actor best known for his role as Neckbone in the film Mud and for his role as Aris in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials..
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard as Tom Died 2017 · Fort Sheridan, Illinois, USA Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays as well as sev...
Ray McKinnon
Ray McKinnon as Senior Age 68 · Adel, Georgia, USA Ray McKinnon (born November 15, 1957) is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and producer. He was married to actress and producer Lisa Blount from 1998 until her death on October 25, 2010 ....

Audience Reviews

Wuchak 7/10 Mar 24, 2018
To love or not love in Arkansas along the Mississippi

RELEASED IN 2012-2013 and written & directed by Jeff Nichols, “Mud” is a southern gothic crime drama taking place in Arkansas along the Mississippi River where two boys discover a fugitive named Mud (Matthew McConaughey) hiding out on an island and decide to help him evade the authorities & vigilantes that are on his trail in hope of reuniting him with his true love, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon).

This is a film about authentic Southern people and the code by which they live. Urbanized types usually refer to them as “rednecks.” While some of them may be “white trash,” most of them are not. They’re independent of the government, hardworking and respectful citizens, not to mention rooted in Christian morality, although not necessarily Christians. The film respects the intelligence of the viewer, leaving it to him/her to read between the lines. It’s similar to “Joe,” which was released a year later, but not as abrasively pessimistic and is overall better. In tone, it’s akin to “Undertow” (2004) and “Snow Angels” (2007). If you appreciate those flicks, you’ll like “Mud.”

There are a lot of gems to mine: Ellis (Tye Sheridan) mirrors Mud as an adolescent. Will he make the same mistakes that brought Mud to his current state? The movie’s basically a rumination on the potential in both masculinity and femininity for good or bad, but the focus is more on the toxicity of some women, which is refreshing, as Hollywood tends to paint men as evil incarnate or thoroughly inept while women are usually sterling examples of eminent nobility (Why Sure!). The film also reveals the idealization of love and how “love is blind.” Just because you truly love someone in a romantic sense doesn’t mean s/he is good for you and that you should develop & maintain a relationship.

I was never a fan of Witherspoon, but didn’t dislike her either. In any case, she’s quite good as the seemingly innocent-yet-toxic love interest. Bonnie Sturdivant is excellent as her teenage counterpart, May Pearl; they should’ve done more with her.

THE MOVIE RUNS 2 hour 10 minutes and was shot in Arkansas (Crocketts Bluff, Eudora, Dumas and Stuttgart). ADDITIONAL CAST: Sam Shepard, Michael Shannon, Paul Sparks and Joe Don Baker.

GRADE: B/B+
CinemaSerf 7/10 Aug 17, 2024
In a way, there was something slightly Dickensian about this story of two small urchins who regularly zip about the Mississippi river on their boat. There must have been an hurricane recently as on one stop, they discover a boat lodged firmly in the branches of a tree. After a quick inspection, they realise it's had a recent resident and as they are about to leave they are introduced to "Mud" (Matthew McConaughey). "Ellis" (Tye Sheridan) is a bit more engaged with this enigmatic stranger than his pal "Neckbone" (a solid effort from Jacob Lofland) and agrees to bring him some food and then help him fix the boat - so long as the boys can have it after! As their relationship slowly develops, we discover that there's no shortage of baggage across the lives of the youngster whose parents are separating and who is about to lose his houseboat home and the fugitive who has a story of his own to tell of love with the gorgeous "Juniper" (Reese Witherspoon) and violence. With the temperature rising and the hunt for "Mud" closing in on the boys, things become perilous and the characters have to take a good long look at themselves as they come to terms with actions past and present that will impact on their futures. McConaughey is at his most natural here; his charisma does much of the heavy lifting but it's really Sheridan who steals the show as his curiously decent character evolves from an innocence to something altogether more mature, more aware and - thanks to "Mae Pearl" (Bonnie Sturdivant) - frustratingly hormonal, too! The setting works well offering us a look at a community that has it's own way of doing things, as does the judicious amount of dialogue allowing the story to develop effectively under it's own steam delivering a bond between these two unlikely characters that emerges in quite an unexpected, and risky, fashion. It's a little more intricate than might appear on first inspection, and is worth a couple of hours.

Similar Movies