Hillbilly Elegy: The contentious film based on the life of Trump’s running mate JD Vance is on Netflix now

JD Vance has been announced as Donald Trump’s running mate in his campaign for the US presidency, sparking renewed interest in the controversial film depicting his troubled childhood in rural Ohio.

Before Vance, 39, was a couple of steps away from the most powerful position in the world, he was just a self-proclaimed “hillbilly” raised in the Appalachian mountains, living in poverty, despair and dysfunction.

His exceptional journey to Yale Law School was documented in his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, published in 2017.

“I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve accomplished nothing great in my life, certainly nothing that could justify a complete stranger spending money to read about,” writes Vance in the introduction to the book which has now become a kind of prophecy.

“I am not a senator, a governor, or a cabinet secretary.”

The book became an instant bestseller and the subject of a Netflix movie by the same name.

The drama stars Amy Adams as Vance’s mother Bev, and Glenn Close as his grandmother Mawmaw. Vance himself was an executive producer on the movie, and is portrayed by actor Gabriel Basso. The film was described by The Independent’s critic Clarisse Loughrey as “a sickeningly irresponsible parade of death and despair”.

Forbes’ writer Scott Mendelson wrote that the film “plays like ‘privileged’ Hollywood outsiders looking in with pity so as to assuage their white liberal guilt. By ignoring the very specific politics and personal observations that made the book allegedly valuable as a memoir, the film negates its very reason for existing.”

Widely criticised for perpetuating stereotypes about the poor, creator Ron Howard defended against attacks as he accused detractors for seeing the movie through the lens of wider “political thematics”.

The “political thematics” Howard refers to are Vance’s political beliefs and affiliations. Currently junior US Senator for Ohio, he has been considered a spokesperson for disenfranchised populations holding right-wing beliefs, anti-immigrant rhetoric, and a figurehead for narratives prominent in the kind of “culture wars” discourses that have ushered in Trump and Brexit.

He was recently subject to widespread criticism when he called the UK an “Islamist” country, derogatorily comparing it to Pakistan and Iran after the election of the new Labour government.

But politics aside, the film’s stars believe it has a lot to offer as a universal story of struggle, resilience, ambition, and achievement.

Adams defended the movie saying: “I think the universality of the themes of the movie far transcend politics.”

Howard added: “What I saw was a family drama that could be very relatable. Yes, culturally specific, and if you’re fascinated by that, I hope you find it interesting.

“If you’re from the region, I hope you find it authentic because certainly that was our aim and that was our effort. But I felt that it was a bridge to understanding that we’re more alike than we are different.”

Hillbilly Elegy is on Netflix now.