The Free State of Jones (film)
| Free State of Jones | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Gary Ross |
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| Screenplay by | Gary Ross |
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| Music by | Nicholas Britell |
| Cinematography | Benoît Delhomme |
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Production
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| Distributed by | STX Entertainment |
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Running time
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140 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $50 million |
| Box office | $25 million |
Free State of Jones is a 2016 American historical period war film inspired by the life of Newton Knight and his armed revolt against the Confederacy in Jones County, Mississippi, throughout the American Civil War. Written and directed by Gary Ross, the film stars Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali and Keri Russell.
It was released in the United States by STX Entertainment on June 24, 2016. It received mixed reviews from critics polled by Metacritic and grossed $25 million against its $50 million production budget.
The story is based on the history of Jones County, Mississippi during the Civil War and the immediately following period. Although the plot of the movie is fiction, the overall story follows the history of Jones County, and many of the events portrayed are true. The film is credited as "based on the books The Free State of Jones by Victoria E. Bynum and The State of Jones by Sally Jenkins and John Stauffer".
After surviving the 1862 Battle of Corinth, Newton Knight, a poor farmer from Jones County serving as a battlefield medic in the Confederate Army, deserts and returns home to his farm and his wife, Serena. While there, he befriends Rachel, a slave woman who has secretly learned to read.
Newton's disenchantment with the Confederacy grows after finding out that troops were taking crops and livestock for taxes. After helping one family resist such a raid, he is pursued by Confederate agents and bitten by a slave-catching dog. With the help of abolitionist Aunt Sally and multiple slaves, he escapes to a swamp where some runaway slaves led by Moses Washington tend to his wounds.
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