Hillbilly Elegy is a 2020 film based on JD Vance’s memoir detailing the influence of his Kentucky upbringing, but there’s another movie that touches on similar themes that resonate even deeper. The controversial Hillbilly Elegy explores the unglamorous side of America, discussing generational poverty as the author reflects on the influence his family had on him. Those who liked Hillbilly Elegy, or liked the themes but wanted more from the movie, should check out Jennifer Lawrence’s breakout film from a decade prior, Winter’s Bone.
Winter’s Bone is a quiet film whose lovingly detailed production design and thoughtful script allow the Ozark setting to really shine. The film covers similar themes of familial obligation, determination, and survival as Netflix's Hillbilly Elegy. However, Winter's Bone is more about enduring a situation and less about escaping to something better.
Winter's Bone Explores Similar Topics & Themes To Hillbilly Elegy
The Movies Share Many Similarities
Winter’s Bone covers similar territory to Hillbilly Elegy – literally, both are set in rural America, with JD in Jackson, Kentucky and Jennifer Lawrence’s Ree Dolly in the Ozark mountains of Missouri. Both are areas stricken by poverty, whose effects on lives are discussed in both movies. “Hillbilly” is a term explicitly used in Elegy, derogatorily by someone at a fancy recruitment dinner, but the term unequivocally applies to the word of Winter’s Bone – a remote and mountainous area, an emphasis on self-reliance, and a connection to tradition.
Winter’s Bone has a lot of production design details that make the Ozark setting sing, including Ree cooking with a heavy spoonful of lard or constantly seeing big dogs chained up in many backyards. JD’s Appalachian accent pops in a room of Yale elites, and even his girlfriend lovingly teases the way he pronounces “syrup” as sir-up instead of seer-up. In a much more naturalistic way, Winter’s Bone organically leans into regionally specific accent and linguistic work, like using the term “catsup” instead of “ketchup” without drawing attention to it.
Winter’s Bone Is Actually Much Better Than Hillbilly Elegy
Winter's Bone Succeeds Where Hillbilly Elegy Failed
Although thematically overlapping with Elegy, Winter’s Bone is in a different class of film. Elegy is a more traditionally Hollywood film, focusing on big emotional performances, especially from its two A-list stars: Amy Adams as JD’s mother and Glenn Close as JD’s grandmother. Elegy also has a more hopeful ending where JD has “made it out” of Appalachia. Winter’s Bone is a smaller story in scope that still feels more powerful, despite its more understanding dialogue and overall darker portrayal. This movie was a breakout performance in Jennifer Lawrence's career, who was far from a household name in 2010.
Hillbilly Elegy has many "Oscar-bait" performances, but Winter’s Bone does not need to rely on overt dialogue, let alone voice-over, to convey emotions. It's a fascinating audition piece for Jennifer Lawrence's future role in The Hunger Games franchise. Ree’s quiet pleading to her mentally ill mother to help her “just this one time” when deciding whether to sell the family’s land is incredibly movie. Lawrence's silent but body-wracking sobs in the climactic scene when her father’s hands are being sawed off his corpse, and her thousand-yard stare after the deed is done is haunting without a word of dialogue.
