---
title: "Hillbilly Elegy"
year: 2020
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/hillbilly-elegy"
fi1m_id: "hillbilly-elegy"
imdb_id: "tt6772802"
tmdb_id: 592984
wikidata_id: "Q65090738"
fi1m_score: 38
critics_score: 31
critics_reviews: 30
published: "2026-10-03T01:19:15.633524+00:00"
updated: "2026-10-03T01:19:15.935329+00:00"
region: "PH"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Hillbilly Elegy (2020)

Directed by Ron Howard · 1h 57m · Drama

## Identity

Hillbilly Elegy

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/hillbilly-elegy
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** hillbilly-elegy
- **IMDb ID:** tt6772802
- **TMDB ID:** 592984
- **Wikidata ID:** Q65090738
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6772802/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/592984, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q65090738

**Fi1m score: 38** · Critics 31 from 30 reviews

*In a sentence:* Amy Adams and Glenn Close could use a quiet scene, and so could we

> Ron Howard’s family drama is earnest, repetitive and hard to care about. Amy Adams and Glenn Close work hard, but the writing gives their characters too few qualities beyond their troubles.

## Synopsis

J.D. Vance (Gabriel Basso) is pursuing an Ivy League education while his family struggles with poverty and addiction. His mother, Bev (Amy Adams), and grandmother, Mamaw (Glenn Close), are at the centre of a childhood that continues to shape his adult life. The story returns to those years, with Owen Asztalos as Young J.D. Vance, and the turbulent relationship between the two women who help raise him. He wants to build a life beyond the family’s troubles, but those troubles keep drawing his attention back. Across three generations, the drama follows the demands of family alongside his efforts to get an education.

## Review

*Hillbilly Elegy* wants us to understand a troubled family before we judge it, which is a reasonable place for a drama to begin. Ron Howard directs with evident sympathy, yet the film keeps returning to scenes of distress without making its people more understandable. At 117 minutes, this is a poor, tiring drama with capable actors and too little interest in the lives they are playing. We get repeated demonstrations of how difficult this family can be to live with.

Vanessa Taylor’s screenplay moves between J.D. Vance’s childhood and his later Ivy League studies, placing his educational ambitions beside the family troubles that shaped him. Gabriel Basso plays J.D. Vance, with Owen Asztalos as Young J.D. Vance, and their relative restraint is welcome amid the surrounding agitation. The changes of period give James D. Wilcox, the editor, a useful way to connect the boy with the adult, and the transitions are more persuasive than much of the dialogue. Yet returning to the past keeps producing another crisis when we need an ordinary conversation.

Amy Adams gives Bev a rawness that sometimes makes the pain register despite the writing’s insistence on another outburst. We were exhausted by the repeated eruptions between Bev and Mamaw, because their distress arrives at much the same volume each time. A family can argue like this, of course, but a drama still needs to show us what holds its members together when they stop. The performance gets too few opportunities to suggest anything beyond the immediate emergency.

Glenn Close fares better as Mamaw, largely because her toughness occasionally suggests a person who exists when nobody is arguing. She can make a sentimental line sound like something this woman might actually say, and her flashes of warmth are welcome. That is a considerable service to the screenplay, which too often tells us what a character stands for before letting us know them. Even here, the emphasis on forcefulness leaves too little room for everyday company.

Maryse Alberti’s cinematography brings an assurance to the images that the storytelling lacks, and the film’s polish is not in doubt. Molly Hughes’s production design gives the family a credible setting, though we seldom get the sense of ordinary life continuing between the crises. The music by Hans Zimmer and David Fleming does little to vary the emotional pressure. These are capable contributions to a film whose basic dramatic rhythm remains confrontation, explanation and another confrontation.

A family melodrama need not offer a lecture on economics to tell us something about poverty. It does need to show enough of the wider world for the family’s choices to mean something. Here, hardship and addiction keep arriving as private emergencies, so that getting an education seems to answer questions the film has barely asked. We can follow the personal difficulties, but the film gives us little help in understanding the circumstances that surround them.

Viewers hoping for an intimate account of how a family lives with poverty should look elsewhere. The film’s insistence on distress makes it harder to spend time with people it plainly wants us to care about. If the attraction is the cast, we would still choose another film.

*Fi1m score 38, published 3 October 2026.*

## What the critics say

The consensus on Hillbilly Elegy is strongly negative, with praise concentrated on the cast rather than the adaptation. Glenn Close attracts the most approval: several critics find her grandmother convincing and affecting even when the surrounding drama feels generic. Amy Adams also earns credit for commitment and emotional force, though enthusiasm for both performances is far from universal. A few reviews acknowledge polished craft, but find little urgency or emotional depth.

The central objections concern repetitive melodrama, thin characterisation and a treatment of poverty that neglects wider social conditions. Many critics see stereotypes where the film needs curiosity about its characters. The spread runs from qualified approval to outright rejection: Den of Geek finds an absorbing family drama despite its shallow social context, while The Guardian finds even Close and Adams unconvincing. Acting is the clearest dividing point; reservations about the film’s narrow account of hardship extend into the more sympathetic reviews.

## Straight answers

**Is Hillbilly Elegy worth watching?**

*Hillbilly Elegy* is difficult to recommend, even for admirers of Amy Adams and Glenn Close, and we score it 38 out of 100. Both work hard, and Close finds some welcome warmth, but the repeated family crises are exhausting without making the characters more understandable. Viewers seeking an intimate drama about poverty and addiction should look elsewhere.

**How long is Hillbilly Elegy, and what is it rated?**

*Hillbilly Elegy* runs 1h 57m. It is a drama film.

**Where can I watch Hillbilly Elegy in the Philippines?**

*Hillbilly Elegy* is streaming on Netflix in the Philippines. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is Hillbilly Elegy, and is it suitable for children?**

*Hillbilly Elegy* has a US R certificate and centres on addiction, family distress and repeated confrontations, making it an unsuitable choice for children. We find the arguments emotionally exhausting rather than frightening; the concern for sensitive viewers is the sustained distress, though we cannot offer a specific assessment of violence from the material described.

**How does Hillbilly Elegy compare to A Woman Under the Influence?**

*Hillbilly Elegy* is the weaker choice beside [*A Woman Under the Influence*](https://film.one/film/a-woman-under-the-influence), which we recommend for its more recognisable family relationships and room for affection alongside distress. Both can become repetitive, but Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk make the demands on our patience worthwhile; Adams and Close have too few opportunities to show their characters beyond the crises.

**What should I watch after Hillbilly Elegy?**

After *Hillbilly Elegy*, try [*A Woman Under the Influence*](https://film.one/film/a-woman-under-the-influence) (1974, Fi1m 86): A family under strain, with room for affection alongside the distress. Then [*Rosetta*](https://film.one/film/rosetta) (1999, Fi1m 82): A young woman’s struggle for work, observed without reassuring explanations or easy blame; and [*Fish Tank*](https://film.one/film/fish-tank) (2009, Fi1m 85): A young woman’s ambitions emerge through performances that leave space for uncertainty.

### Reviews we read (30)

- **RogerEbert.com** (64/100, inferred): The review’s verdict cannot be verified because the page is blocked. Its specific praise or criticism is unavailable in the retrieved text. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hillbilly-elegy-movie-review-2020)
- **Screen Daily**, Fionnuala Halligan (64/100, inferred): The available text does not reveal the critic’s overall verdict. It singles out Glenn Close and Amy Adams for playing their roles to the hilt. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/hillbilly-elegy-review-netflix/5154633.article)
- **Radio Times**, Trevor Johnston (3/5): The three-star rating suggests a mixed verdict. The review singles out Amy Adams’s showy performance and Glenn Close as a scene-stealer. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-sv1zgo/hillbilly-elegy/)
- **Total Film**, Jane Crowther (3/5): Crowther finds the film polished but pedestrian, criticizing its lack of bite and urgency. She singles out Glenn Close’s commanding performance as the film’s chief draw. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/hillbilly-elegy-review-netflix/)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Sheri Linden (55/100, inferred): Linden finds the film sympathetic but less affecting than its subject matter warrants, with its crises becoming repetitive. She praises Amy Adams and Glenn Close for making the turbulent mother-daughter relationship vivid and convincing. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/hillbilly-elegy-film-review-4085832/)
- **IndieWire**, David Ehrlich (C-): Ehrlich finds the adaptation forgettable and politically evasive, with Vance’s self-serving story left dramatically unsatisfying. He praises Glenn Close for resisting caricature and giving the film its most affecting, grounded performance. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/hillbilly-elegy-review-netflix-1234597691/)
- **The AV Club**, Katie Rife (C-): Rife argues that the film reinforces stereotypes about Appalachia and reduces structural problems to personal failures. She singles out its caricatured characters and performances, while finding Glenn Close’s Mamaw the closest thing to a fully realized figure. [Read](https://avclub.com/may-hillbilly-elegy-mark-the-end-of-trump-era-myth-maki-1845625283?amp=&amp=&amp=)
- **Evening Standard**, Charlotte O'Sullivan (2/5): O'Sullivan finds the melodrama deeply conservative and argues that it reduces poverty to laziness and self-pity. She praises Amy Adams's performance and one striking camera shot, while criticizing the script for giving Glenn Close little to work with. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/hillbilly-elegy-film-review-netflix-b74160.html)
- **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman (35/100, inferred): Gleiberman finds the adaptation overly safe and emotionally shallow, despite its lively performances. He especially praises Glenn Close’s meticulous, award-worthy work, while faulting the film for flattening J.D.’s struggles and Appalachia’s harsher realities. [Read](https://variety.com/2020/film/reviews/hillbilly-elegy-review-amy-adams-glenn-close-ron-howard-jd-vance-1234826719/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Justin Chang (30/100, inferred): Chang finds the film politically hollow and reduced to histrionic performances, with little larger purpose. He singles out Amy Adams and Glenn Close’s over-the-top acting, while noting Adams has a few raw, affecting moments. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-11-10/hilbilly-elegy-review-amy-adams-glenn-close)
- **Sight and Sound**, J.D. Valence (30/100, inferred): The review finds the adaptation too constructed and emotionally distant, despite its effort and artistry. It praises the screenplay’s effective interweaving of J.D.’s childhood and later Ivy League studies. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/hillbilly-elegy-j-d-valence-appalachia-yale-memoir-ron-howard-amy-adams-glenn-close)
- **Slant Magazine**, Chris Barsanti (1/4): Barsanti finds the film a generic, bland feel-good story that loses the memoir’s broader social context. He praises Glenn Close for giving Mamaw a lived-in toughness and making sentimental dialogue convincing. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review-hillbilly-elegy-sentimentalizes-a-true-life-story-of-poverty-and-dysfunction/)
- **Empire**, Terri White (20/100, inferred): White finds the adaptation generic and emotionally unconvincing, with its family story flattened by clichés. She praises Glenn Close and Amy Adams for committing to their roles, and singles out Owen Asztalos as compelling. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/hillbilly-elegy/)
- **Little White Lies**, Madeleine Seidel (2/1/1): Seidel condemns the film as a spineless, misjudged melodrama that insults the people it claims to represent. She praises the performances by Amy Adams and Glenn Close but criticizes the film’s lazy stereotypes and sentimental approach. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/hillbilly-elegy)
- **The i Paper**, Geoffrey Macnab (20/100, inferred): Macnab finds the film a dreary, charmless adaptation that lacks curiosity or sympathy for its Appalachian characters. He praises Amy Adams and Glenn Close’s performances, though he finds their conspicuous accents distracting. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/hillbilly-elegy-review-strangely-charmless-portrait-how-to-watch-765733)
- **Time Out**, Phil de Semlyen (1/5): The critic pans the film as a tedious drama. They single out its overacting as a major flaw. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/hillbilly-elegy)
- **Vulture**, Alison Willmore (15/100, inferred): Willmore finds the film disjointed and ultimately empty, criticizing it for evading a clear point. She singles out its fragmented characterization and Amy Adams’s oversized scenes without a convincing emotional center. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-hillbilly-elegy-starring-amy-adams-and-glenn-close.html)
- **The Guardian**, Simran Hans (10/100, inferred): Hans finds the film a misjudged, caricatured adaptation that fails to create human empathy. She singles out Close and Adams’s performances as especially unconvincing, marked by platitudes and shrieking histrionics. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/nov/29/hillbilly-elegy-review-glenn-close-amy-adams-ron-howard)
- **The New Yorker**, Richard Brody (10/100, inferred): Brody pans the adaptation as reductive and politically regressive, arguing that its silences flatten the lives it depicts. He faults the film for denying its characters cultural and intellectual depth beyond their immediate family troubles. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-silent-political-messaging-in-ron-howards-hillbilly-elegy-adaptation)
- **The New York Times**, Manohla Dargis (10/100, inferred): The review is sharply negative about the film. It objects to the film’s condescending treatment of its characters. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/23/movies/hillbilly-elegy-review.html)
- **Den of Geek**, Don Kaye (3/5): The critic finds the film an absorbing family drama, but says its avoidance of the region’s politics and socioeconomic context makes it feel shallow. Amy Adams is singled out for a complex, emotionally raw performance. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/hillbilly-elegy-review-netflix-movie-amy-adams/)
- **Paste**, Jacob Oller (3.5/10): Oller strongly pans the film as muddled, dull award bait that treats its subjects with condescension. He singles out the performances of Glenn Close and Amy Adams as overblown and the characters as thinly drawn. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/netflix/hillbilly-elegy-review)
- **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (2/10): The critic condemns the film as childish, exploitative, and devoid of nuance or empathy. He singles out its caricatured characters and failure to address systemic problems as especially damaging. [Read](https://collider.com/hillbilly-elegy-review/)
- **NME** (20/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a blinkered, cartoonish depiction of working-class life. They praise the subtle performances of the two actors playing J.D., while criticizing the one-dimensional portrayals of his mother and grandmother. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/hillbilly-elegy-review-netflix-2824300)
- **The Wrap**, Alonso Duralde (15/100, inferred): The critic pans the film as condescending and politically simplistic rather than a meaningful account of poverty and addiction. They praise the cinematography and editing, but find the performances—especially Amy Adams’s—overwrought. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/hillbilly-elegy-film-review-ron-howard-glenn-close-amy-adams-netflix/)
- **Consequence**, Blake Goble (10/100, inferred): Goble finds the film disingenuous and shallow, reducing complex rural struggles to simplistic platitudes. He singles out its narrow scope and melodramatic execution, which he says leave the cast and subject matter poorly served. [Read](https://consequence.net/2020/11/film-review-hillbilly-elegy/)
- **Digital Spy**, Ian Sandwell (10/100, inferred): Sandwell finds the film deeply unsuccessful, faulting its lack of nuance and simplistic message about escaping poverty. He also criticizes the melodramatic performances and familiar hillbilly stereotypes, despite the leads’ talent. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a34769145/hillbilly-elegy-review-amy-adams-netflix/)
- **Eye for Film**, Jennie Kermode (10/100, inferred): The critic calls the film superficial, repetitive and dull, arguing that its clichés obscure the lives it claims to depict. Glenn Close’s committed performance as the grandmother is singled out as a delight. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/hillbilly-elegy-2020-film-review-by-jennie-kermode)
- **Polygon**, Robert Daniels (10/100, inferred): The critic condemns the film as a broad, melodramatic failure that misrepresents the Rust Belt. He particularly criticizes its overwrought performances and dialogue for turning trauma into emotional manipulation. [Read](https://www.polygon.com/2020/11/10/21559004/hillbilly-elegy-review-ron-howard-netflix-amy-adams/)
- **The Ringer**, Adam Nayman (10/100, inferred): Nayman judges the film very bad, criticizing its melodrama and its failure to examine the culture it depicts. He notes that Glenn Close brings flashes of inspiration, but says her performance cannot offset the film’s flaws. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2020/11/25/movies/hillbilly-elegy-review-bad-netflix-ron-howard-amy-adam)

## Details

- **Director:** Ron Howard
- **Director:** Ron Howard
- **Writer:** Vanessa Taylor
- **Cinematography:** Maryse Alberti
- **Editor:** James D. Wilcox
- **Music:** Hans Zimmer, David Fleming
- **Production design:** Molly Hughes
- **Costume design:** Virginia B. Johnson
- **Producer:** Karen Lunder, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard
- **Cast:** Amy Adams as Bev; Glenn Close as Mamaw; Gabriel Basso as J.D. Vance; Haley Bennett as Lindsay; Freida Pinto as Usha; Bo Hopkins as Papaw; Owen Asztalos as Young J.D. Vance; Jesse C. Boyd as Matt
- **Runtime:** 1h 57m
- **First release (Brazil):** 9 November 2020
- **Genres:** Drama
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW_3aaoSOYg

## Where to watch in the Philippines

- Netflix: streaming

*Checked 2026-10-03.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, AZ, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 2021: Best Makeup and Hairstyling (nominated); Best Supporting Actress (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *A Woman Under the Influence* (1974), Fi1m 86: A family under strain, with room for affection alongside the distress — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-woman-under-the-influence.md)
- *Rosetta* (1999), Fi1m 82: A young woman’s struggle for work, observed without reassuring explanations or easy blame — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/rosetta.md)
- *Sweet Sixteen* (2002): A teenager’s hopes for his mother make a sharper, less comfortable family drama
- *Fish Tank* (2009), Fi1m 85: A young woman’s ambitions emerge through performances that leave space for uncertainty — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/fish-tank.md)
- *Shoplifters* (2018), Fi1m 89: Poverty and family loyalty examined through daily routines, with humour and patience — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/shoplifters.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/hillbilly-elegy