---
title: "The Underground Railroad"
year: 2021
kind: "series"
canonical: "https://film.one/tv/the-underground-railroad"
fi1m_score: 86
critics_score: 90
critics_reviews: 12
published: "2026-09-17T04:06:17.803029+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-17T04:06:18.360970+00:00"
region: "US"
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."
---

# The Underground Railroad (2021)

Created by Barry Jenkins · MPA TV-MA · Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

**Fi1m score: 86** · Critics 90 from 12 reviews

*In a sentence:* The railway is real, the trains run on time, and every station is a new kind of trap

> Barry Jenkins’s ten-part adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel is slow, exact and hard to watch. Thuso Mbedu carries it without asking to be liked; the middle drifts, but it is his most serious work.

## Synopsis

Georgia, before the Civil War. Cora Randall (Thuso Mbedu) was born on the Randall plantation and left there as a child when her mother ran and did not come back. When Terrance Randall (Benjamin Walker) takes charge of the property and the punishments get worse, a newcomer called Caesar asks Cora to run with him. He has heard of the Underground Railroad, and in this America it is not a figure of speech: there are tunnels, platforms and trains beneath the cotton fields. Arnold Ridgeway (Joel Edgerton), the slave catcher who never found Cora’s mother, sets out after her with Homer (Chase W. Dillon), a small boy in a suit who keeps his ledger. The first stop is South Carolina, where the welcome is warm and Cora is given a new name.

## Review

Colson Whitehead’s novel had one idea everyone remembers: the Underground Railroad was not a chain of safe houses but an actual railway, dug beneath the southern states. Barry Jenkins keeps the idea and builds ten episodes on it. Cora Randall runs from a Georgia plantation and the series follows her from state to state, each a different America with its own arrangement for people like her. Our verdict is that this is the most serious work Jenkins has made and that most viewers will find it hard going. The second is not a complaint.

Thuso Mbedu plays Cora with no visible effort to be liked. She listens more than she speaks, and treats any comfort she is offered as something she will be asked to pay for later. The performance is built on stillness and holds for ten hours. Joel Edgerton’s Ridgeway, the slave catcher on her trail, talks constantly, and Edgerton lets us hear a man arguing with himself underneath the philosophy. Beside him rides Homer (Chase W. Dillon), a small Black boy in a suit and bowler hat who keeps the accounts and is the most unsettling person on screen. Dillon gives him the calm of a child who made his arrangements early.

James Laxton shoots in the light Jenkins likes, low sun, firelight and the blue just before dark, and lets the camera drift across a field to find people rather than cutting to them. Characters stop, turn and look straight down the lens for long seconds, sometimes a dozen at once, like sitters for a photograph nobody took. It ought to wear thin; it did not, because each time it insists these were people with faces. Mark Friedberg’s stations are the best of the design: one is a tiled hall with electric light, another a hole in the earth with a plank platform and a lantern, and the difference tells you what kind of state is above. Caroline Eselin dresses Cora in cotton that gets dirtier as she travels and Ridgeway in a long coat too heavy for the country.

Nicholas Britell’s music is strings again, as on [*Moonlight*](https://film.one/film/moonlight), but slowed and darkened, and much of it sits under the sound of the trains, which arrive as a shaking in the ground before you see them. Whole scenes play with no music, only insects, wind and a hammer somewhere.

One scene in the first episode told us what the series would be. Terrance Randall hosts a dinner party on the lawn while a recaptured runaway is punished in front of the guests. Jenkins does not cut away from the punishment, but he does not dwell on the body either; he cuts to the faces of the enslaved men and women made to watch, and then to the diners, who go on eating. We felt sick, and then something worse than sick, because the scene is composed as carefully as everything else and we caught ourselves admiring it. We think that is intended.

It is slow. Jenkins takes the time he is given whether the story needs it or not. A stretch in the middle, mostly in Tennessee, drifts; the land is burnt and empty and so is the plot. A whole episode goes to Ridgeway’s early life, and while Edgerton earns it, we were impatient to be back with Cora. Then there is the old problem of beautiful films about ugly things. Laxton’s images are so handsome that you could sit through the North Carolina chapter admiring the light and miss what the town does on Friday evenings. Jenkins knows this and pushes against it; he does not always win. The 18 certificate is deserved.

Jenkins made *Moonlight* (2016) and *If Beale Street Could Talk* (2018), both about people the camera loves in a world that does not; this is the same method on a harder subject. The teleplays, by Jenkins with Jacqueline Hoyt, Nathan Parker, Allison Davis, Adrienne Rush and Jihan Crowther, keep the novel’s structure of states, none of which is the answer. Watch it two episodes at a time. It is a long way to go with Cora, and it is meant to be.

*Fi1m score 86, published 17 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The reviews are unanimous. All twelve critics are positive, and most treat Barry Jenkins’s adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel as a major piece of television rather than merely a good one. The praise clusters on Jenkins’s direction and on James Laxton’s photography, which several reviews describe as painterly and closely attentive to faces. Thuso Mbedu’s performance as Cora is singled out again and again, with Aaron Pierre also named. Many critics note that the series shows the violence of slavery without turning it into spectacle, and that it makes room for joy and connection alongside the brutality.

The spread is narrow, from good to exceptional, and nobody dissents outright. Where reservations exist they concern pace: The Hollywood Reporter finds the series favours atmosphere over forward momentum and calls it a demanding watch, and Variety says it can feel too large to take in at one sitting. Several reviews warn that it is hard viewing, but none offers that as a reason to skip it.

### Reviews we read (12)

- **The AV Club**, Stephen Robinson (A): The review praises Jenkins for outdoing himself with a transcendent adaptation that stretches cinematic language in powerful ways to convey the horrors and humanity of the story. It singles out the searing visuals, strong performances (especially Thuso Mbedu as Cora), and refusal to offer moral relativism as standout elements. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/barry-jenkins-outdoes-himself-in-the-transcendent-under-1846804108)
- **The Telegraph** (95/100, inferred): It is a towering achievement and one of the most powerful pieces of television ever seen, with staggering beauty in Jenkins’s film-making and stellar performances. The critic singles out the visual wonder and sense of the will to survive. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2021/05/13/underground-railroad-review-quite-simply-one-powerful-pieces/)
- **Evening Standard** (90/100, inferred): Jenkins’ adaptation is a staggering achievement that proves he is one of the most gifted filmmakers working today. The critic singles out the painterly visuals, haunting score and standout performances by Thuso Mbedu and Aaron Pierre. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/the-underground-railroad-amazon-barry-jenkins-review-b933372.html)
- **IndieWire**, Ben Travers (90/100, inferred): The critic hails Barry Jenkins' limited series as an American masterpiece that remains faithful to the spirit of Colson Whitehead's novel while offering a spellbinding vision of America's past with searing ties to its present. The review singles out Jenkins' direction and visuals for creating an immersive, emotionally resonant experience. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/shows/the-underground-railroad-review-amazon-barry-jenkins-masterpiece-1234636227/)
- **The Guardian**, Lucy Mangan (90/100, inferred): Barry Jenkins’ adaptation is as bleak, brutal and brilliant as the book, hallucinatory and heartbreaking. The critic singles out Thuso Mbedu’s extraordinary performance and the series’ pursuit of historical truths. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/may/14/the-underground-railroad-review-barry-jenkins)
- **Vulture** (90/100, inferred): The critic calls the series the cinematic event of the year, a masterwork that excavates the wound of slavery through visual storytelling that is felt rather than merely witnessed. It singles out Jenkins and cinematographer James Laxton's textured camerawork and empathetic framing for bringing characters and settings to vivid life. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2021/05/the-underground-railroad-is-the-cinematic-event-of-the-year.html)
- **Empire**, Kambole Campbell (85/100, inferred): The critic praises the sensitive and respectful adaptation of the novel that avoids sensationalism or treating violence as spectacle. They highlight the visual beauty from Jenkins and cinematographer James Laxton, the emotional depth of Mbedu's performance as Cora, and how the series explores themes of anti-Blackness and humanity beyond mere trauma. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/tv/reviews/the-underground-railroad-1/)
- **Variety**, Caroline Framke (85/100, inferred): The critic describes the series as a harrowing, emotional, and sprawling American epic that feels almost too big to take in at once, with every frame haunted by ghosts of the past. They praise its compassionate approach to suffering that makes it three-dimensional rather than merely shocking. [Read](https://variety.com/2021/tv/reviews/underground-railroad-review-barry-jenkins-amazon-1234965586/)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Daniel Fienberg (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the series a challenging but rapturous watch with breathtaking visuals and immersive mood that often prioritize atmosphere over plot momentum. They single out the remarkable ninth episode for its blend of horror, hope, dialogue, and action, while noting Jenkins has successfully captured the difficult source material. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/the-underground-railroad-tv-review-4176789/)
- **NME**, Paul Bradshaw (5/5): The critic calls it a heart-breaking masterpiece that's hard to watch but shouldn’t be missed, praising Jenkins' handling of perspective through the story of Cora's flight and the vast portrait of American racism. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/tv-reviews/the-underground-railroad-review-barry-jenkins-2940983)
- **Paste**, Radhika Menon (9.6/10): The critic praises the series as a tense, atmospheric exploration of hope amid trauma, highlighting its lush visuals, deliberate worldbuilding across episodes, strong lead performance by Thuso Mbedu, and nuanced depiction of perseverance. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/the-underground-railroad/the-underground-railroad-review)
- **The Ringer**, Lex Pryor (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the series for centering the minds, emotions, and desires of its characters in depicting life under slavery, rather than relying on mystery or horror tropes. Jenkins is lauded for using intimate close-ups and blending brutality with moments of joy and human connection to recapture the full essence of Black life. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2021/05/19/tv/underground-railroad-review-barry-jenkins-amazon-colson-whitehead)

## Details

- **Created by:** Barry Jenkins
- **Creator:** Barry Jenkins
- **Director:** Barry Jenkins
- **Teleplay:** Barry Jenkins, Jacqueline Hoyt, Nathan Parker, Jihan Crowther, Allison Davis, Adrienne Rush
- **Novel:** Colson Whitehead
- **Cinematography:** James Laxton
- **Music:** Nicholas Britell
- **Production design:** Mark Friedberg
- **Costume design:** Caroline Eselin
- **Producer:** Richleigh Hz Heagh
- **Cast:** Thuso Mbedu as Cora Randall; Chase W. Dillon as Homer; Joel Edgerton as Arnold Ridgeway; Kylee D. Allen as Molly; Trayce Malachi as Chester; Zsané Jhé as Lovey; Danny Boyd Jr. as Young Mack; MK Smith as Francis
- **Certificate (MPA):** TV-MA
- **Release (the US):** 13 May 2021
- **Genres:** Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pq5Usc_JDA

## Where to watch in the US

- Amazon Prime Video: streaming, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: free, uhd

*Checked 2026-09-17.*

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

## If you liked this

- *Moonlight* (2016), Fi1m 89: Jenkins, Laxton and Britell at feature length, with the same faith in faces held in close-up. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/moonlight.md)
- *Beloved* (1998): Jonathan Demme’s Toni Morrison adaptation, another ghost story about slavery that refuses to be comfortable.
- *Daughters of the Dust* (1991): Julie Dash’s Gullah island drama, slow, sunlit and more interested in memory than plot.
- *Small Axe* (2020), Fi1m 88: Steve McQueen’s five London films; anger and tenderness in equal measure, and no hurry at all. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/small-axe.md)
- *Watchmen* (2019): A superhero series that opens in Tulsa in 1921 and never lets you forget it.

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© 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/tv/the-underground-railroad