Here’s Where to Stream “Hillbilly Elegy”, the Movie Based on Trump VP Pick J.D. Vance’s Memoir
J.D. Vance’s memoir 'Hillbilly Elegy' and the film adaptation of the same name have surged in popularity following Trump’s announcement of Vance as his running mate
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Haley Bennett as Lindsay, Gabriel Basso as J.D. Vance, and Amy Adams as Bev in 'Hillbilly Elegy'.After Donald Trump announced that Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance would be his vice-presidential running mate for the 2024 election, the 2020 film Hillbilly Elegy — based on Vance's memoir of the same name — quickly reentered the spotlight.
Both the 2016 bestselling book and the 2020 film adaptation chronicle Vance’s troubled upbringing, the socioeconomic struggles of America’s working class and his eventual journey to becoming a Yale Law graduate.
The story of Vance’s childhood is marked by familial strife, addiction and economic hardship in Appalachia and Ohio. Released in 2020 and directed by Ron Howard, the film stars Amy Adams as Vance’s mother and Glenn Close, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role as his grandmother.
Related: All About J.D. Vance's Parents, Mom Beverly Vance and Dad Donald Bowman
Though critics were divided on the movie when it was released in 2020, the news of Trump's VP pick has made skeptics and supporters alike curious about the narrative that preceded Vance’s prominence in politics. Here’s what to know about Hillbilly Elegy — including where to watch the much-discussed film.
Where can I watch Hillbilly Elegy?
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Glenn Close as Mamaw and Amy Adams as Bev in 'Hillbilly Elegy'.Hillbilly Elegy is available to stream exclusively on Netflix.
Netflix acquired the movie's distribution rights in January 2019 before it started filming the following spring. It was released in select theaters on Nov. 11, 2020, before it landed on Netflix on Nov. 24. It's remained exclusively on the platform ever since, reentering the streamer's top 10 most-watched movie list after Vance was announced as Trump's running mate.
What is Hillbilly Elegy about?
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Amy Adams as Bev in 'Hillbilly Elegy'.Hillbilly Elegy is Howard’s 2020 film adaptation of Vance's 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. It explores Vance's tumultuous childhood in Appalachia and the Rust Belt, touching on issues like substance abuse, poverty and social isolation.
The film follows Vance’s troubled adolescence as his mother and grandfather grapple with addiction, and his trajectory out of poverty as he enlists in the Marines to afford college, attends Ohio State University and eventually goes off to Yale Law.
Is Hillbilly Elegy based on a true story?
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Glenn Close as Mamaw in 'Hillbilly Elegy'.Howard’s 2020 adaptation is based on the 2016 memoir of Vance’s real life and upbringing, and much of the film was also shot in Vance’s hometown of Middletown, Ohio, per Decider. The memoir is described as “the true story of what a social, regional and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.”
However, critics have questioned the accuracy of some of the memoir's claims. Appalachian author and scholar Silas House described the book as "disingenuous and dangerous" to Politico in 2020, adding, "It’s full of untruths, intentionally manipulative stories."
Critics have also pointed out that though the memoir was marketed as “an Appalachian narrative," Vance's family moved away from the area two generations before he was born.
"Here he is, his grandparents left there when they were very young, his mother never lived there, he never lived there, and suddenly, after the book came out, he’s on every news show as the representative of a region that he barely knows," House told Politico.
Who is in the Hillbilly Elegy cast?
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Glenn Close as Mamaw and Owen Asztalos as J.D. Vance in 'Hillbilly Elegy'.The 2020 film stars Adams as Bev Vance (Vance’s mother), Close as “Mamaw” (Vance’s grandmother), Gabriel Basso as J.D. Vance, Owen Asztalos as young J.D. Vance, Haley Bennett as Lindsay Vance (Vance’s sister), Freida Pinto as Usha (his girlfriend and eventual wife) and Bo Hopkins as Papaw (Vance’s grandfather).
Related: All About J. D. Vance's Sister Lindsay
The reviews of the film were mixed, but the performances of the actors received high praise, with Close receiving an Oscar nomination.
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