Free State of Jones

Newton Knight, a Mississippi farmer who deserts the Confederate army, builds an armed resistance in the swamps with other deserters and escaped slaves. The group effectively declares its own government in Jones County. It happened. Knight organised deserters on 13 October 1863, the group fought fourteen recorded skirmishes with Confederate forces, raised an American flag over the courthouse in Ellisville and sent General Sherman a letter declaring Jones County's independence from the Confederacy. Knight later became a US Marshal and a leading Republican in Mississippi's Reconstruction. The film draws on books by Victoria E. Bynum and by Sally Jenkins and John Stauffer. Gary Ross developed it for about a decade, researching both the history of the war and its historiography, and said his aim was to debunk a lot of myths. Matthew McConaughey plays Knight, with Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Rachel, Mahershala Ali as Moses Washington and Keri Russell as Serena Knight. On a 50 million dollar budget it grossed only 25 million worldwide and opened sixth. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 48 percent and Metacritic at 53. Critics divided on its racial politics, with some arguing it becomes a white saviour narrative and needed to examine the interracial relationships inside the insurgency far more closely. Who it is for: viewers curious about the lesser-known corners of Civil War history. Who it is not for: anyone wanting dramatic pressure. The film lectures, and it comes apart in the last half hour when it jumps into Reconstruction.