Commended director Dee Rees brought an acclaimed ensemble together for her stirring new drama Mudbound. The film takes places during and post-World War II and centers on two families—white landowners the McAllans and their farming tenants the Jacksons—living on a farm in the Mississippi Delta. Both families have a son fighting in the war for the U.S. and while the movie shows them in action against the Germans, it heavily tackles the time’s race relations and delves deep into the characters’ interactions. As expected, things get explosive.

Mary J. Blige’s character, the Jackson family matriarch, is deeply concerned about her son coming home safely and the singer recently told REVOLT TV that despite being a period piece, Mudbound is being released at a fitting time considering America’s current political and social climate.

“I think it’s perfect because all this division and separation in the real world right now, how we live now, I think it’s just an opportunity for us to learn something about ourselves,” Blige said in Los Angeles’ SLS hotel. “And I think this movie is gonna reflect that. It’s going to show us, hopefully, ourselves. And hopefully, we’ll begin to see [that] we can do better than this. We are better than this. None of us are better than each another, but we’re not beneath each other either, so I’m just hoping for that.”

Blige stars alongside the likes of Jason Mitchell (Straight Outta Compton‘s Eazy E), Jonathan Banks (Breaking Bad‘s Mike Ehrmantraut), Garrett Hedlund, Jason Clarke, Carey Mulligan, and Rob Morgan. Mudbound debuts November 17 on Netlfix.