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Family relationships can be difficult to navigate. We love our families and want what’s best for them, but some family relationships can be troubled and even toxic. And in director Ron Howard’s adaptation of the best-selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, a young man struggles to support his family without letting them pull him down into their drama.
Hillbilly Elegy follows the story of Yale law student J.D. Vance (Gabriel Basso), who finds himself in the middle of a family crisis just as he’s interviewing for an internship that will determine whether or not he can afford to continue his education. When he gets the call that his mother has overdosed, he returns home to small-town Ohio. And as he tries to help his family through yet another difficult situation, it brings back memories of his childhood with his tormented mother, Bev (Amy Adams), and his resilient Mamaw (Glenn Close).
From the hallowed halls of New Haven, Connecticut, to small-town life in Middletown, Ohio, to family-filled summers in Jackson, Kentucky, Hillbilly Elegy mixes heartwarming moments and challenging ones to explore the lives of this tight-knit but troubled family—a family that’s fought its way through generations of addiction and abuse, only to continue the cycle.
Though it never really plunges into the darkest depths of this family’s story, Hillbilly Elegy is filled with life-changing moments and difficult decisions. It’s filled with strong characters with big personalities. And it’s marked by big performances by Amy Adams and Glenn Close, too. Close, especially, is remarkable in her nearly unrecognizable role as Mamaw. Her character is a force of nature—and when she talks, you’ll definitely pay attention.
This film doesn’t paint a rosy portrait of a family. While J.D. does remember the moments when his family was there for him—when they stood up for him and protected him—he also remembers the moments when he was threatened and abused, when he was left to take care of himself, when he was forced to cover up his mother’s latest mistakes. Nothing here is neat or straightforward or even uplifting—including the conclusion—and while that makes it a difficult film, it also makes it real.
Admittedly, Hillbilly Elegy isn’t as gut-wrenching as it could have been. But it offers a fascinating exploration of family—of the good moments and the heartbreaking ones, of the expectations and loyalties, and of the painful decisions that family members are sometimes forced to make.
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