'Hillbilly Elegy,' which was called 'objectively terrible' when released, tops Netflix after Trump picks JD Vance as VP

Donald Trump isn't the only one having a comeback. The film version of JD Vance's memoir, 'Hillbilly Elegy,' is too.

• 'Hillbilly Elegy,' a film adaptation of JD Vance's memoir, is topping Netflix charts in the US.
• The film initially flopped with critics but has now been given new life.
• Now the fourth-most watched film on Netflix, viewers are flooding it with mixed reviews.

Donald Trump isn't the only one enjoying a comeback right now.

Since Trump selected Sen. JD Vance to be his vice president on the 2024 GOP ticket, Vance is enjoying the limelight, as is his life story in the film "Hillbilly Elegy."

The film adaptation of Vance's memoir, which critics panned when Netflix debuted it in 2020, has surged in popularity on the streaming service since the Republican National Convention.

Netflix gave the film a limited theater release before streaming it in November 2020. In the weeks after its debut, the film scored a low 25% on Rotten Tomatoes, according to a web archive of the site. However, the audience score was 82%, indicating that general viewers enjoyed the film even if film critics didn't.

Four years later, the film maintains its 25% score on the Tomatometer and an 81% audience score, but it is now the fourth-most watched film on Netflix as of Sunday. Viewers are leaving a slew of new reviews. Some have branded it an "excellent film," while others said it's "maybe the worst movie ever made."

"Well done movie all around really enjoyed it! Not surprised to see the critic score so low considering the connection to JD; if it was about Hilary Clinton they would give rave reviews," one audience reviewer wrote on Rotten Tomatoes this week.

"The movie strayed too far from the book which, itself, strayed too far from reality," another said recently.

Vance was credited as an executive producer on the film, which had a star-studded cast, including Amy Adams portraying Vance's mother and Glenn Close as his Mamaw.

Critics at the time called the film "objectively terrible" and questioned why "Amy Adams and Glenn Close chose to do such a bad movie."

Underscoring the divisive reaction to the film, Close won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated as the Worst Supporting Actress at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards, or "Razzies," which awards the worst performances annually.

Spokespersons for Adams and Close did not respond to requests for comment.