Ellis and his friend Neckbone are two boys who meet Mud, a fugitive hiding on an island in the Mississippi. Skeptical but intrigued by his fantastic scenarios, Ellis and Neckbone agree to help him. But it isn’t long until Mud’s visions come true and their small town is besieged by bounty hunters.

Continuing the prescient vision of white-American masculinity of Take Shelter, director Jeff Nichols teamed with an expert cast (McConaughey! Witherspoon!) for this fable of youth and romance in the heartland. With shades of crime films of old, Mud is familiar yet entirely renewed and sincere.