Interstellar’s Coop is back on Earth and getting serious. Matthew McConaughey gets to be master of his own domain in Free State Of Jones, a Civil War-era historical drama that promises to pack the kind of wallop a true-life story can provide. It has a scene-setting new clip that you can watch exclusively below.
This scene shows McConaughey’s real-life advocate Newton Knight and his small band of followers discussing the rules of their new community and planning their next moves against the tyrannical Confederates in the area. They're planning to defy the Rebel authorities by any means necessary. Violence? Possibly. Hiding out in the swamps? Definitely. Strange humming noises? If it comes to it.
A Mississippi farmer and Confederate medic in the American Civil War, Knight deserted from the army and took a group of like-minded troops with him to create the titular Free State of Jones on a patch of land next to a swamp. Knight later married a slave (Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s Rachel), creating one of the first ever publicised mixed-race unions in the South, fought against the Confederates from within his new territory and led a daring raid to free children who were still enslaved following the end of the conflict.
With Gary Ross on writing and directing duty and Jacob Lofland, Keri Russell and Mahershala Ali also in the cast, Free State Of Jones is out here on September 30. Watch the full trailer here.