What is theprototypical American Southern film? That’s not an easy question to answer because the states beneath the Mason-Dixon Linehaveexperienced a lot over the last several hundred years. The Southern cinematic experience has captured thetumultuous and unfortunate days of slavery in the 19th centuryand aggressively segued into the modern era. Filmmakers have also addressed more recent issues unique to the South, ranging from contemporary racism and civil rights to the religion offootball.
Some films have captured the essence of Southern life and its zeitgeist better than others. Some are classics, while others are more modern, noteworthy entries as the culture evolves into the 21st century. FromFriday Night Lightsto the hardscrabble portrayal of Appalachia and the Ozarks inDeliveranceandWinter’s Bone, this list is intended to represent a well-rounded portrait of the movies that are unique to the South, both in the places it has been and where it may be headed.
10’Friday Night Lights' (2004)
Directed by Peter Berg
In the South, particularly in Texas, Sunday is for church, but Friday nights are for the religion of high school football. The entire town will be drawn to the banks of lights that glow above the local high school football field and cheer on the teenage kids.It is such a phenomenonthat director Peter Bergwent out and gotBilly Bob Thorntonto star in his film, which is loosely based on the true story of the 1988 Odessa Permian football season and the bookFriday Night Lightsby Philadelphia-based journalistBuzz Bissinger, which culminated in a showdown for the ages when they met Dallas Carter High in the 5A State Championship Game.
Berg masterfully captures the cult of football in the small West Texas town of Permian, known mainly for its abundance of oil wells and pigskin success at Permian High, and the personal stories oflegendary Coach Gary Gaines (Thornton)and his real-life star running back, Boobie Miles (Derek Luke). The chronicling of the tumultuous season that saw Boobie get hurt and Gaines having to perform the best coaching job of his career makes for incredibly compelling cinema and cements Thornton as an A-list leading man in Hollywood.
Friday Night Lights
9’Fried Green Tomatoes' (1991)
Directed by Jon Avnet
If there is one culinary style that extends across the Southern states, it would have to be frying everything from vegetables to funnel cake. If you go to any state fair in the South, you will find a slew of tasty treats that you probably never thought could be dipped in bread and deep-fried. And thoughJon Avnet’s 1991 filmFried Green Tomatoestackles far more important issues than the piquant flavor of the South, we would be remiss not to include the film based purely on its mouth-watering title.
Kathy Bates,Jessica Tandy,Cicely Tyson,Mary-Louise Parker, andMary Stuart-Mastersonhighlight an enormously talented cast in the story based onFannie Flagg’s popular 1987 novel. While Avnet and his versatile ensemble are able to deliver a movie with a light tone, it also addresses the very serious issues of domestic violence, race relations, gender inequality, and aging.The dynamic between Bates as Evelyn and Tandy as Ninny radiates off the screen and makes life in a sleepy Southern town pop to life.
Fried Green Tomatoes
8Daughters of the Dust (1991)
Directed by Julie Dash
Directed by noted African American filmmakerJulie Dash,Daughters of the Dustis unique in that it addresses a period often forgotten as a footnote. Set during the post-Civil War turn of the century in the coastal region of South Carolina,it’s a remarkable character study of a group of free women who embark Westward to establish a new life. There are precious few movies set in the Carolinas, and this is the most noteworthy.
The film stars a talented ensemble cast that includesAlva Rogers(as Eula Peazant),Barbara O. Jones(Yellow Mary),Adisa Anderson, andTrula Hoosier.Dash studies the disparate livesof these young women who, though different in their goals and desires, are united in the duality of the hope of a new and free future and the traumatic experiences of their pasts.Dash does a phenomenal job of framing each woman with bittersweet attitudes to their situations, ranging from optimistic to jaded and cynical.
Daughters of the Dust
7’Deliverance' (1972)
Directed by John Boorman
Some movies romanticize the South, while others are brutally honest about it. TheJohn Boorman-helmedDeliverancefrom 1972 doesn’t pull any punches andis widely regarded as one of the most visceral and raw movies ever made. Starring a youngJon Voight,coming off a stunning performance inMidnight Cowboyalongside up-and-comerBurt Reynolds, this film about a river rafting trip gone horribly awry depicts the rural people of southern Appalachia as they had never been seen before or since. Boorman sets the eerie tone early as the boy on the roof slowly strums, “Dueling Banjos.” you’re able to tell this isn’t a regular kid, and this won’t be a regular trip before they hit the water.
Gone With the Wind, this film is not!Deliveranceis as hardcore as movies got in the early 70s and shocked audiences with the honest brutality and horrors of four friends way out of their element. The screenplay, adapted fromJames Dickey’s 1970 novel, remains loyal to the source material andpaints a desperate and harrowing picture of a fun trip turned into a fight for survival. It’s not only the whitewater rapids of the Cawulahassee River in North Georgia that present a challenge, as the local mountain folk don’t take very kindly to city folk encroaching on their mountain.Deliveranceis so revered as a portrayal of rural Southern life thatit was selected forthe National Film Registryby the U.S. Library of Congress.
Deliverance
Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it’s dammed and turned into a lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a canoeing trip they’ll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.
6’A Time to Kill' (1996)
Directed By Joel Schumacher
They say, “Write what you know,” right?John Grishamtook his own experiences as a Southern lawyer and has written many books about legal dramas set in various states like Mississippi, Tennessee, and Louisiana.No one has been as accomplished at capturing courtroom tensionover the past 30 years as Grisham. One of the best adaptations of his work isA Time to Kill, starringMatthew McConaughey,Sandra Bullock,Samuel L. Jackson, andKevin Spacey.
What makesA Time to Killstand out is its unique insight into race relations and divisionsin the South. McConaughey has never been better than Jake Brigance, a lawyer who takes on the controversial case of representing Carl Lee Hailey (Jackson) after he murders the two white racists who raped his little girl and left her for dead. Set in the deep South, thisJoel Schumacher-directed movie gets at the heart of the division between the white middle class and the poor, blue-collar Black working man. It addresses the essential questions as we seek racial equality in the South.
A Time to Kill
A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.
5O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2001)
Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
A list of movies that capture Southern life wouldn’t be complete without an entry from the acclaimed pair of brothers/directors,Joel and Ethan Coen.Oh, Brother, Where Art Thouis a modern take on Homer’s historicalGreek epic ofThe Odysseyand is set in rural Mississippi in the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The chemistry of the three leads,George Clooney,Tim Blake Nelson, andJohn Turturro, is off the charts hilarious as agroup of bumbling convicts who have escaped from a chain gang and set off on an adventure that sees them encounter all kinds of eccentric characters.
Several of the directors' muses make their way into this marvelous picture, including Clooney, Turturro,John Goodman, andHolly Hunter. The beauty ofOh, Brotheris seeing howthe Coen Brothers interpret Homer’s saga set in the backdrop of a Depression-Era Southern setting. Not only do they highlight the politics and economics of this period, but they also highlight the era-specific folk music of the time period. The soundtrack ushered in a folk revival and would go on to win Album of the Year at the 2002Grammy Awards.
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
In the Deep South during the 1930s, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them.
4’Mississippi Burning' (1988)
Directed by Alan Parker
Alan Parkerdirects a brilliant cast, including a fresh-facedWillem Dafoe,Gene Hackman, andFrances McDormandin this gripping psychological thriller. When a group of civil rights activists go missing in a small Mississippi town, two FBI agents head into the very deep South to investigate the disappearance.The movie is loosely based on the true story of the horrifying murders of white activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner.
Hackman was well into a hall-of-fame careerin Hollywood when he teamed up with the relative newcomer Dafoe, who has since gone on to carve out his own path to A-list stardom. InMississippi Burning, they share tremendous chemistry as they navigate the tense, racially charged atmosphere of the mid-1960s. Several movies have been made addressing the misguided racial inequality in the South during the Civil Rights Era, includingSelma,Ghosts of Mississippi, andGreen Book. Still,this movie was one of the first to take the critical and weighty issue head-onand expose new generations to the brutality that took place during the unfortunate time.
Mississippi Burning
Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe star as FBI agents navigating a volatile environment in Mississippi during the height of the civil rights movement. Their investigation into the disappearance of civil rights workers exposes a web of racism, corruption, and violence, challenging them to seek justice in the face of relentless adversity.
3’Steel Magnolias' (1989)
Directed by Herbert Ross
No matter where you go, there will be local gossip holes where the secrets and rumors of the neighborhood or town are passed around. This is not unique to the South. However,Steel Magnoliasis the best cinematic versionof a group of Louisiana women spread over several generations and how they go about spreading the good word.Herbert Rosscollected a who’s who of ’80s stars, includingSally Field,Julia Roberts,Shirley MacLaine,Dolly Parton, andDaryl Hannahto star in amovie that has come to define Southern women of the era.
Ross used the abundance of talent to cobble together amovie that is both light-hearted and emotionally charged.Steel Magnoliascan have you laughing in one scene and then pensive and somber the next. The film is based on the true story of thelife events of Susan Harling Robinsonby her brotherRobert Harling. Without any prior writing experience, Harling wrote the script for what would become a play before the 1989 film in just 10 days. Fair warning: be prepared to laugh and cry when watching this Southern classic.
Steel Magnolias
2'12 Years a Slave' (2013)
Directed by Steve McQueen
Slavery is one of the most shameful aspects of the rich and storied history of the United States. The sensitive subject has been told many times, but12 Years a Slaveis the standard-bearer. Directed bySteve McQueen, it is a frighteningly visceral and accurate portrayal of the atrocities of the pre-war South. The movie is based on the 1853 memoir ofSolomon Northrupand his harrowing account of being caught and sold into slavery.
Chiwetel Ejioforplays Northrup in the poignant story of a free man who travels south into Louisiana and is kidnapped and sold into slavery.Lupita Nyong’ostands outin her debut performanceas part of a supporting cast that also boastsBenedict Cumberbatch,Michael Fassbender, andPaul Giamatti. Some stories from the Antebellum era of the South hit the viewer harder than others, and the consensus among critics and moviegoers alike is that12 Years a Slavepacks the heaviest punch for its accuracy and conviction in telling the sad stories of slavery.
12 Years a Slave
In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.
1Winter’s Bone (2010)
Directed by Debra Granik
Set in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri,Winter’s Boneis very much an updated version of whatDeliverancemight look like some 40 years later. The key difference is the tour de force performance of a youngJennifer Lawrenceas Ree Dolly,a teenager tasked with caring for her family after her father goes missing. DirectorDebra Granikdelivers a stark and bleak portrayal ofmountain life in the Ozarksand the generations-old code of conduct, which is the de facto law enforcement of the realm.
Forced to search for her missing father, who was deep in debt to another mountain family, Ree is bold and steely in her resolve to fulfill what her dad owes to protect her two younger siblings.Winter’s Boneis as gritty and, at times, challenging to watch asDeliverance, but Lawrence is triumphant, carrying the weight of the entire movie on her shoulders; it was indeeda breakout role for the actresswho was born to play the role, having been born and growing up in the neighboring Kentucky town of Indian Hills.This film stands out for her performance and the accurate depiction of Southern mountain life.
Winter’s Bone
Winter’s Bone is a drama directed by Debra Granik, featuring Jennifer Lawrence as Ree Dolly, a teenager in the Ozarks who must track down her missing father to save her family from eviction. The film explores themes of poverty, family loyalty, and survival in a harsh rural setting, with a supporting cast including John Hawkes and Dale Dickey. It is based on the novel by Daniel Woodrell.
NEXT:The 15 Best Movies About the American Civil War, Ranked According to IMDb
