Rent Antebellum (2020)

A powerful thriller and nerve-shredder - Antebellum review by BG

Wow.

I had encountered some middling reviews of Antebellum, and so although I was interesting in seeing it based on some captivating trailers, I sat down in the best possible state to see it; expecting little...

As a result, I was completely unprepared for the brilliant writing, directing and acting that seized me by the collar and refused to let go.

Opening on a seemingly idyllic ancient plantation house in America, we follow a little girl as she hands some flowers to her mother, the camera gradually gliding through their Civil-War plantation grounds until we begin to encounter more and more disturbing things; an unconscious woman on horseback. A black male slave being manhandled and beaten by soldiers as his wife begs on her knees...the film starts hard and builds an utterly terrifying portrait of Deep-South plantation slave life, treated with utter casual entitlement by the white folk involved, and filmed with extremely eerie beauty that somehow makes it even more chilling.

To go into the plot would be to risk spoilers for a story that manages to pull some brilliant and brutal gut-punches. Suffice it to say that if you give your full attention to the movie, it will reward it in spades with loads of little creepy details and odd, tension-building moments.

Janelle Monae is sensational in the lead, holding the film in the commanding grip of a robust, terrific performance. Gabourey Sidibe has rarely been more magnetic and engaging as her best friend, and the rest of the cast give powerful, brilliantly effective performances. Special mentions also need to go to Jena Malone, Eric Lange and Jack Huston for turns that manage to set your skin crawling, but they are actors who shine especially bright in a cast that is replete with actors playing utterly convincing detestable scumbags who only help to dramatically enhance your investment in hoping for the survival of our heroine.

The film has powerful things to say about race, gender and American History in particular, and I've never witnessed any film use such well-written dramatic writing to bring the staggering horror of black slavery so vividly and immediately to life. Maybe it just pressed the right buttons with me, and missed them with the media reviewers. But it walks an extremely clever tightrope of pulling you into a state of considerable empathy while also investing you in the fate of innocent characters in a tense thriller plot. The messages are served up purely as propulsion to the heroine's plot-line. You're aware that these appalling things really happened to people, all while you're being cleverly distracted into 'watching the magician's other hand', and wondering whether Monae's character will triumph.

It's rare that a movie leaves me stunned, exhilarated, sickened, moved and excited, and wanting to tell people about it, all at once.

This is that movie.

It may not have the same effect on you, but it had it on me. Try it - you might be as blindsided as I was.

Get Out (of my DVD player!) - Antebellum review by F15HF1NG3RZ

Billed as behind the people from "Get Out" and "Us" I had really high hopes for Antebellum. I know Janelle Monae is a great actress too, as she is in this film... But nobody (including her) is really given anything to say or do. It feels really disappointing to say this, but it felt like the directors brainstormed 10 good scenes to put into an edgy horror/thriller type of film and then tried to cobble it all together. Aestethic, atmosphere, cast - brilliant. Story telling and plot are all over the place. It really doesn't try and make any sense by the end and descends into complete lunacy. Everyone has their own opinions of films, but I thought this was a sorry waste of time.

Not quite met the promise - Antebellum review by MP

Well this is an intriguing if disappointing film. Great to see, if distressing, black racial issues in America explored in this story, with some well cast black actors. Interesting twist to the story which didn't quite make sense to me, but a good idea for new directors starting out. The script does not have great dialogue, or the weighty content that these black characters and actors deserve. It felt like the directors had a rather simple narrow glossy view about what being a successful woman is. The successful black people I see in real life are much much better than these likeable if simple American TV roles. Certainly glossy, and a good thriller, some simple evil white villains, and plenty of violence for those who need that in their entertainment, to be fair it does reflect the real violence of the racial issues, but something I don't usually want to watch too often.