Free State of Jones

Synopsis

In 1863, during the American Civil War, farmer Newt Knight is serving as a medic in the Confederate army, despite his opposition to slavery. When tragic events lead to his eventual defection, Knight is forced to flee his home in Jones County, Mississippi. On the run, Knight joins together with an unlikely group of poor white farmers and runaway slaves to ignite an extraordinary rebellion, launching an uprising that led to Jones County seceding from the Confederacy, creating a Free State of Jones and changing history forever. By marrying a slave, Knight would also form one half of one of the first mixed-race marriages to take place in the South. This epic drama tells the true story in stirring fashion, illuminating a crucial period of history with the charismatic McConaughey at its heart.