“Antebellum” is an American horror film brought to us from first-time feature filmmakers Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz. The film stars Janelle Monáe who plays a modern-day Black woman who wakes up one day and finds herself trapped on a Civil War-era slave plantation, forcing her to revisit the horrors of American slavery. Watching the trailer prior, the audience is already aware that there are two realities in the film, which leaves many questions before even watching the film.
The film opens with a William Faulkner quote, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past,” which is then followed by a 5-minute opening tracking shot establishing the world we’re being introduced to first, which is the most memorable scene in the film, honestly. The long shot starts from the front of a beautiful house and makes its way to the back, where the audience is brought to the horror behind it, which is the harsh frightening new reality of these characters’ now altered lives. The cinematography during this shot is very well done and captivating, which pulled me directly into the film and immediately grasped my attention. We’re pulled into an attempted escape by one of the female slaves, who gets chased down and killed, setting the tone for the film instantly.
“Antebellum” then introduces us to our protagonist, Eden, who, when a new set of slaves arrive, we learn she has attempted to escape before, has been abused, and is complying with this new reality for now. She even tells one of the new slaves, “whatever you came from, you need to forget it.” From the production design to the scenes without much dialogue and just action, I could already tell that the film is relying heavily on visual content and it shows beautifully with great detail. It shows how important each of the realities of the film are to the story being told.
Half an hour into the film, we’re finally introduced to pre-abduction present day Eden, whose name is actually Veronica Henley. Veronica is a successful sociologist and author with a husband and daughter. Due to the release of her new book, she travels to speak at a seminar promoting her work and showing that she uses her voice and platform to inspire and start those racial conversations that a lot of people try to avoid. One line that stuck out the most to me was while speaking to her audience at the seminar, Veronica says “they’re stuck in the past, we are the future. Our future is now.” This line is ironic considering we know where she’s about to be abducted to, and you can’t help but realize that perhaps her activism might have put a target on her back.
Janelle Monáe leads this film with an outstanding performance; I have always seen her in smaller roles, but this film truly showcased her acting and the several emotions she’s able to convey on screen. I also loved that they started with the plantation before introducing who Veronica really was, being as if we as the audience are thrown into the plantation without warning as well. The layout of the film is well done visually; each scene feels necessary to the story being told, and the attention to detail of the time periods are on point.
We’re taken on this thrilling psychologically journey where Veronica is forced to confront the past, her present, and the future. Even though she is the main character, I felt there was a lack of focus on other characters that could have been explored a bit more. For example, why didn’t more of the other captives have more lines or more reaction to what was going on in this new reality? Why couldn’t we get more insight on why they chose certain individuals as captives? What about backstory for the antagonists?
Overall, “Antebellum” is very well written, captivating, and visually pleasant. It’s an important film that I’m glad the pandemic didn’t prevent from releasing, especially due to everything going on globally at present. The film brings forth important racial conversations that we need to continue to have, and shows the harsh reality of the world right now. Veronica said it perfectly when she stated, “they’re stuck in the past, we are the future. Our future is now”—which ironically also sums up the film.
*You can currently watch “Antebellum” on most streaming networks either via subscription or rental.
