Ghosts of Mississippi

Skip the prestige-TV noise — Ghosts of Mississippi, in the US on Kanopy, is quietly one of the better ones. It says what it needs to say in one sitting, no filler. A 7/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Alec Baldwin sets the tone, and the rest of the cast matches it scene for scene. Put it on tonight on Kanopy and see for yourself.

Part of the current wave of titles people are actually watching, Ghosts of Mississippi earns its spot. The writing in Ghosts of Mississippi treats its characters as people first, plot devices second. A Mississippi district attorney and the widow of Medgar Evers struggle to bring a white supremacist to justice for the 1963 murder of the civil rights leader. Alec Baldwin and Whoopi Goldberg lead a cast doing genuinely serious work here. Ghosts of Mississippi came out in 1996. The performances in Ghosts of Mississippi do a lot of work in the silences between the dialogue. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Drama fans who appreciate slow-burn storytelling will feel right at home with Ghosts of Mississippi. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. Best experienced as a single, sustained watch from start to finish. Alec Baldwin's work here is the kind that gets referenced in career retrospectives. It makes everything else feel thin by comparison.

Ghosts of Mississippi was released in 1996, directed by Rob Reiner. The full 130-minute film is available to watch now. Find exactly where it's streaming below, and TV Butler Pro makes it effortless to track your progress as you go. Just search the name, and Butler finds it instantly, tells you which service has it, and remembers exactly where you left off.