Antebellum Is Not A Slave Movie

WARNING Spoilers Ahead

The Film starts with the following:

“The Past is never dead. It's not even the past”.

- William Faulkner

For throwback Thursday, we are taking a look at 2020s Antebellum which is advertised as a Horror-thriller and created by the producers of “Get out” and “Us”. Antebellum means before or existing before a war especially, the American Civil War. The film was written and directed by Gerald Brush and Christopher Renz and produced by two producers from “Get Out” Sean Mckittrick and Raymond Mansfield. Jordan Peele does not have any connection with this film.

This Film stars Jack Huston, Gabourey Sidibe, Kiersey Clemons, and Janelle Monàe. To view more of the cast members click here.

<<< Rotten Tomatoes Review >>>

If you are not an avid reader, I can give you a basic summary of my review by stating this is a must-see movie because it does us, the audience, justice by providing blatant and subtle social commentary on white supremacy, Microaggressions, and more. At its air date, it was twenty (20) dollars to view on-demand, now it is going for 5.99 on media outlets like YouTube. It is worth the price and I will be purchasing it again.

<<<Rotten Tomatoes Reviews>>>

Pros include- the subtle and blatant approach to systemic racism, microaggression, white supremacy, women empowerment, and more. Several scenes with little nuggets of wisdom and intellectual dialogue seen throughout the film. Another pro includes all of the symbolism both easy to see and some that require previous knowledge or research. The sexual scenes were not too graphic. In total, the storyline is easy to follow and the ending leaves me satisfied and asking questions about its social concepts.

Cons include- the same intellect I praise in the film can be seen as confusing to many people, the acting of Julia (Kiersey Clemons) came off as annoying and obnoxious, and there could have been more dialogue showing how she knew Veronica (however, with context clues the conversation implies she knows her somehow).

I did not like that the film was advertised as created by the producer of “Get Out” and “Us” when Jorden Peele had nothing to do with the film. Lastly, the goal of the film is hard to grasp (for some people) because it speaks on several aspects of the black experience, black women's experience, and social issues concerning race. Click the link above to view more thoughts and reviews by Rotten Tomatoes.

{Disagreements with Critics and Youtubers}

Readers May Read or Skip This Section

It is very disappointing to see that most, if not all reviews, fail to give it any credit for the positive elements provided. The only review I could barely sit through is Just My Opinion Review on youtube.com. My issue with his review is he showed a lot of enthusiasm for the film and goes as far as saying “it was a good movie to watch” at the end of his video instead of leading with that. Click his link to view.

I was deeply saddened by the review Watching For a Friend on Youtube. She assumed the movie would be a Syfy flick and was dissatisfied that it was not. If you're looking for a fun mystery Syfy, this is not the film. I really like to give people a chance to see their side even after she said the film was not worth its price, but I had to stop at 6 minutes and 47 seconds after she stated Janelle Monàe did not become her character. The most disappointing review was the article “I Am Tired of Films Like Antebellum” by Angelica Jade Bastien on the “Vulture. I couldn’t disagree more with empty claims such as:

“ Antebellum ends up being a noxious tour of historic violence against Black folks in service of a story that has nothing novel to say about the obliterating function of whiteness and anti-Black racism. Lacking a strong point of view to granting interiority to its characters, its approach to horror and social commentary becomes deadened.”-Angelica Jade Bastien

And in reference to Veronica's press conference, Bastien states “she speaks in empty, progressive platitudes that make it hard to understand the work she actually does.” At the end, she adds a wild claim that …Antebellum is ultimately a travesty of craft and filmmaking with a perspective that hollows out the Black experience in favor of wan horror.”

Despite the travesty of reading the entire article, one person in her comment section gives the films some justice with his view below. Historian and journalist under the username Chrabaker states:

"As a historian and journalist of color, I understand the author's [Bastien's] frustration with the portrayal of Black slavery. I do think the film was lacking. But then we need to realize that this ISN'T a slave narrative.

This film cannot possibly depicted true slavery because it takes place in the current time period. Everyone in the film has the same knowledge base has the ability to look back on history to see the past. This is not a slave narrative because there are no slaves. These are peers kidnapped by peers! This is a horror story expounding the horrific desire of racism to dominate and brutally assert white superiority.

This is a work of fiction just like Django (which also deserves plenty of criticism), but this isn't even a period-piece film like that. Antebellum is a horror movie that extracts the emotions of what racist oppression does silently everyday by making it brazen. We just get a glimpse of the true, unspoken disdain...so many have for Blacks who manage to break through the barriers of race and demand a seat at the table.

My only take away from this from a sociopolitical stand point is this: I never once thought that this was scenario was completely implausible. In fact, one could argue that this is exactly what the prison system does to impoverished Black communities. I thought several times that if I were to be kidnapped by some racist organization, who outside my family would look for me? Would I ever be found? Would I be able to escape? The answer to all of these, of course, is a horrifying list of unknowns, except to my finally question: do I know of people today who would readily harm Black people simply because they found something about us to dislike?

I think we all know the answer but can't bare to say it out loud."

I Will End This Section with a Message For The Critics

I had the pleasure of meeting commentator, philanthropist, and YouTube Star Trè Melvin. During our encounter we spoke on how we (black people) tear each other down, are extremely critical, negative, and unsupportive when it comes to referencing the talents and achievements of artists within our community.

As writers, Critics, and YouTubers, we have a duty to speak the truth as well as support our community. Yes, we can critique because there is always room for improvement but at the same time, we have a duty to support each other’s efforts.

Janelle Monàe is a well known and respected Artist, Actress, and Activist who put her all in that performance. Her decision to be in the film should be respected. She acted as a leader, motivator, both inspirationally and intellectually.

I am appalled her performance was called flat, empty, and miscast, not on the basis that she is black but on the fact that, if you paid attention, you could see the character Veronica Henley is very similar to who Janelle Monàe is and what she represents.

We should support Monàe by paying to watch the film and in my experience, it was worth the money. The Link below is an interview with Monàe about why she chose to participate in the film and what messages the movie and characters were trying to give off.

<<<Disagreements With Critics Ends Here>>>

Surprisingly, there is a lot of complaints about the following: meaningless torture, referring to it as racist porn, execution of the plot and plot twist, lack of character development, Janelle Monàe lacking gravitas, and the film in its entirety, is missing Social Commentary.

There seems to be a lot of confusion on what the goal or point of the film is, the language/dialogue used throughout the film, and the terminology used to describe what the film was missing.

For starters, this is not a Slave- Narrative film but the depiction of the torture and degradation endured by the abducted were present during the slave era. For example, torture, rape, killing, and branding can be found in numerous history books, documentaries, and first-person accounts of slavery in early black literature. This also is not a new concept folks. Slavery did happen and we have seen several films about it both historically accurate and fictional.

Next, we must address that Janelle Monàe was not given enough credit for staring in the film.

Gill Cokindale of The Harvard Business Review believes that for one to have Gravitas, they must have “authority, personal power or presence, and a commanding style.”-Gill Colindale. By this definition Jenelle Monàe had gravitas. There are three things that stood out to me which was her press conference, the news scene, and the cryptic intellectual language throughout the movie.

Granted the producers did not want Monàe’s performance to be the most memorable part of the film but their casting choice was perfect. I cannot imagine another person stepping into the role and embracing it such as she did. Every line or word she spoke seemed to be spoken with a certain weight and energy that demanded your utmost attention.

<<<Every Single Hidden Meaning Explained by Directors>>>

What makes this film different is that it is hypothetical. A “what if” scenario of a reenactment camp that goes as far as reenacting slavery and abducting outspoken activists and other scholars to “put them in their place”. I guess a lot of people found the violence too much and offensive because of the type of film it is. I disagree because this was the horror part of the film; this film does not have jump scares or supernatural. This level of violence and torture is what makes the film a psychological Thriller film and earns its rating of “R” for disturbing violent content, language, and sexual references.

"We are expected to be seen not heard.... but we are the future…"- Veronica Henley (Jenelle Monàe )

This is just one powerful line from the successful Sociologist, Activist, Historian, and Author Veronica Henley’s (Janelle Monàe) Book tour conference. This scene, along with others throughout the entire film, included pockets of intellect, wisdom, bravery, and candidness for individual and communal growth and understanding of the black experience.

The Press Conference scene seemed as though it was written as a church sermon where the audience should have shouted “Amen”.

I know I did as I saw Janelle Monàe breathe life into her character. Her words were nothing short of a sermon meant to heal, inspire, and encourage. Some call this moment empty and confusing, however, the dialogue is encrypted and also foreshows how she will escape her situation.

Overall, I would say give the film a chance and try to take away something positive.

As Always, Thank you for reading

Keep Open Ears, Eyes & Mind

"Till Next Time