Antebellum

November 10, 2020 at 9:49 am | Posted in 2020 | Leave a comment
Tags: Eric Lange, Gabourey Sidibe, Jack Huston, Janelle Monáe, Jena Malone, Period Piece, Thriller, Tongayi Chirisa

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I had been looking forward to this film since before COVID. I had seen a cryptic teaser and was all in. It looked like it would be evocative. It turned out to be entertaining and a bit mysterious, but I think I over hyped it in my mind. It’s definitely worth seeing, as long as you know what it is. The film starts with a beautiful long shot moving through a plantation. We see a little girl running, confederate soldiers, slaves, and a woman thrown over a horse. That woman, played by Janelle Monáe, is the film’s core; she is in every scene. The film felt very slow at first, and it appeared to be unfolding as just another film about slavery in America. And, given the brilliant films we have already had on the subject, one might reasonably wonder why bother with this one. But, then, about 45 minutes in, something strange happens. The less I say about this, and the rest of the movie, the better. Let’s just say, it shifted my whole experience of the film and what I thought was going on. And, when I thought I had figured it out, I was wrong. That made the film much more interesting than it first appeared to be. In the second part, there are some great scenes with Gabourey Sidibe that were a delight to watch. Tonally, the final act of the film felt more like a thriller, and did a pretty good job of creating some suspense. In the end, it wasn’t as good as I had expected, nor was it as bad as I had feared. It was just fairly entertaining. And, for $5, that was good enough for me.