The Underground Railroad (2021) [The Criterion Collection]

Stars: Thuso Mbedu, Chase Dillon, Joel Edgerton

A monumental reimagining of American history, Barry Jenkins’s adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize–winning 2016 novel is a harrowing and rhapsodic journey through a still-echoing past. Weaving together historical fiction with moments of magical realism, The Underground Railroad is a full sensory immersion into the world of Cora (Thuso Mbedu), who, fleeing slavery, embarks on a treacherous quest for freedom—and is menaced by violence, supported by a clandestine community fighting for liberation, and haunted by the people she loses along the way. With images of searing power and stirring poetry, Jenkins delivers an epic saga of survival and resilience that pushes the limited-series format to new heights of cinematic transcendence.

Extras:
- 4K digital master, approved by cowriter-director Barry Jenkins, with Dolby Atmos soundtrack
- Alternate stereo soundtrack
- New audio commentary featuring Jenkins and, on select chapters, cinematographer James Laxton and lead editor Joi McMillon, with an introduction by the director
- New graphic-novel adaptation of “Genesis,” an unfilmed chapter of The Underground Railroad written by Jenkins and Nathan C. Parker, drawn by Valentine De Landro, with an introduction by Jenkins
- The Gaze, a companion film by Jenkins, with a new introduction by the director. (Movie, 51.57 minutes; Introduction 6.01 minutes) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14655558/
- In all my years of doing press, I’ve been repeatedly asked about the white gaze. Rarely have I been set upon about the Black gaze; or the gaze distilled. This is an answer to a question rarely asked.
- Deleted scenes, with a statement by Jenkins, Disc One
- Seven teasers made by Jenkins, with a new introduction by the director, Disc One
- Building “The Underground Railroad,” a short program featuring Jenkins and production designer Mark Friedberg discussing the creation of the train-station sets
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and English descriptive audio
- PLUS: An essay by critic Angelica Jade Bastién