The feature film version of Hillbilly Elegy — the Ron Howard-directed movie based on JD Vance’s memoir of the same name — has skyrocketed in popularity on Netflix, being featured on the app’s landing page and immediately drawing viewer attention and derision.
No shortage of Netflix users were thrilled to see Vance’s real-life portrayed hardships coming just hours after he rose to broad national prominence after former President Donald Trump chose him to be his 2024 running mate, as Breitbart News reported.
Vance published Hillbilly Elegy — which vividly recounts his impoverished upbringing in the Rust Belt — in 2016.
It details a life that took in service in the U.S. Marine Corps and duty in the Iraq War before returning to the U.S. Vance then went on to graduate from Ohio State University before earning his law degree from Yale Law School.
According to ABC News, Hillbilly Elegy has sold 1.6 million copies to date. Vance was elected to his U.S. Senate seat in 2022 and his life story is now drawing more admirers than ever before as Netflix users were thrilled to see his real-life hardships.
Forbes reports the movie version as directed by A Beautiful Mind Oscar winner Ron Howard, Hillbilly Elegy was released in 2020.
As plenty applauded the movie others raged at Netflix for featuring Hillbilly Elegy so prominently, with some threatening to cancel their subscriptions.
As of Thursday, the film was trending upward at No. 4 on Netflix’s Top 10 list of the most-watched movies in the U.S.
On Tuesday, Hillbilly Elegy was No. 6 on the list.