Barry Jenkins

The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad

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.

The Underground Railroad

Film Info

  • United States
  • 2021
  • 585 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.78:1 and 2.39:1
  • English
  • Spine #1223

DIRECTOR-APPROVED FOUR-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • 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
  • Deleted scenes, with a statement by Jenkins
  • Seven teasers made by Jenkins, with a new introduction by the director
  • 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

    New cover by Tony Stella

Purchase Options

DIRECTOR-APPROVED FOUR-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • 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
  • Deleted scenes, with a statement by Jenkins
  • Seven teasers made by Jenkins, with a new introduction by the director
  • 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

    New cover by Tony Stella
The Underground Railroad
Cast
Thuso Mbedu
Cora
Chase W. Dillon
Homer
Joel Edgerton
Arnold Ridgeway
Aaron Pierre
Caesar
Ben Walker
Terrance Randall
Sheila Atim
Mabel
Megan Boone
Miss Lucy
Will Poulter
Sam
Lily Rabe
Ethel
Damon Herriman
Martin
David Wilson Barnes
Jamison
Mychal-Bella Bowman
Grace
Lucy Faust
Fiona
Fred Hechinger
Young Arnold Ridgeway
Peter Mullan
Ridgeway Senior
Owen Harn
Chandler
Darryl Booker
Samuel
Danny Boyd
Young Mack
Calvin Leon Smith
Jasper
Kraig Dane
Boseman
IronE Singleton
Mack
LaChanze
Ms. Reva
Pam Smith
Lucille
Abigail Ngoubei Achiri
Polly
Sam Malone
Moses
William Jackson Harper
Royal
Elijah Everett
Big Anthony
Credits
Director
Barry Jenkins
Chapter One teleplay by
Barry Jenkins
Chapter Two written by
Jacqueline Hoyt
Chapter Two written by
Nathan C. Parker
Chapter Three written by
Allison Davis
Chapter Four written by
Adrienne Rush
Chapter Five teleplay by
Nathan C. Parker
Chapter Six written by
Nathan C. Parker
Chapter Six written by
Barry Jenkins
Chapter Seven written by
Jihan Crowther
Chapter Eight written by
Jacqueline Hoyt
Chapter Nine teleplay by
Barry Jenkins
Chapter Ten written by
Barry Jenkins
Chapter Ten written by
Jacqueline Hoyt
Created by
Barry Jenkins
Based on the novel by
Colson Whitehead
Executive producer
Barry Jenkins
Executive producer
Adele Romanski
Executive producer
Mark Ceryak
Executive producer
Brad Pitt
Executive producer
Dede Gardner
Executive producer
Jeremy Kleiner
Executive producer
Colson Whitehead
Producer
Richleigh Heagh
Director of photography
James Laxton
Production designer
Mark Friedberg
Chapters One, Five, Six, Nine, and Ten edited by
Joi McMillon
Chapter Two edited by
Alex O’Flinn
Chapter Two edited by
Luke Doolan
Chapter Two edited by
Matthew Willard
Chapters Three, Four, and Eight edited by
Alex O’Flinn
Chapter Seven edited by
Daniel Morfesis
Music by
Nicholas Britell
Costume designer
Caroline Eselin-Schaefer
Sound supervision by
Onnalee Blank

Current

The Underground Railroad: The Wound and the Remedy
The Underground Railroad: The Wound and the Remedy

Barry Jenkins’s extraordinarily ambitious limited series distinguishes itself in the tradition of the cinematic slavery epic through its understanding that Black joy and Black trauma cannot be cleaved from each other.

By Angelica Jade Bastién