Blu-Ray Review: Antebellum Is Both Horrific And Moving

WARNING SOME SPOILERS!

The writing and producing duo Gerard Bush + Christopher Renz make their feature directorial debut with Antebellum.

In the beginning, we are introduced to Veronica, a strong-willed, well-spoken, educated author, and speaker who talks about racism and patriarchy. Played by Janelle Monáe, Veronica is kidnapped and wakes up on a Southern slave plantation in what seems to the past with a new name, Eden, given to her by her captors. She seems broken and reserved to her fate, but she hasn’t completely given up yet. When a death occurs she finds renewed strength.

Eric Lange (TV’s “Narcos,” “Lost”), Jena Malone (Contact, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire), Jack Huston (Kill Your Darlings, American Hustle), Kiersey Clemons (Sweetheart, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising), and Gabourey Sidibe (Precious, TV’s “Empire”), also star.

This is not your everyday horror movie. There are no supernatural monsters jumping out to scare you, it’s much worse, the film reveals that the real monsters are all human.

The villains in Antebellum do everything within their power to strip their victims of their humanity, hope, and will. Their victims spend their days picking cotton in the hot sun. One method they use is to chisel away at their victims’ psyche is by forbidding them to speak at all unless given permission, a form of oppression. If the victims try to run they are shot dead, and drug back for the others to see. It’s all about domination and fear.

At the beginning of the film, I thought, okay this must feature some sort of time jumping due to the fact that one moment Veronica is sitting in a modern car and the next moment she’s on a plantation. I was wrong. The twist was clever, but here’s the thing, after the twist, things go a little off. We see Veronica/Eden struggle and suffer but we see no real continued character development. We definitely don’t see any development from the captors. There’s also no real resolution to the plantation. Sure, some psychos die, but we never learn why they are the way they are. I mean no sane, mentally stable person would enslave another person for shits and giggles.

Monáe is fantastic in her role and commands serious respect. The way she got across the emotions that her character is feeling is often subtle but still so clear. You know what she’s feeling with a simple movement of her brow or lips. She really delivers a powerful performance, unfortunately, the fact that she isn’t allowed to speak for much of the movie does impact her character negatively, but that’s not her fault. I also find it a bit strange that Monáe is clearly the lead in the film but if you look at IMDb.com you will notice that she is listed far from first. In fact, a character with no name listed as simply  “Little Blonde Girl” is listed ahead of her. What the hell?

Jack Huston who plays the role of Captain Jasper did a great job of coming off an evil confederate soldier who helps run the plantation. In fact, it was scary just how well he played the evil, brutal man. But once again, there was a lack of character development. There’s also no explanation of why he is this way he is or how he became involved in the operation and he never evolves.

Antebellum isn’t all doom and gloom. Gabourey Sidibe (“Empire”) delivers the much needed comic relief as Dawn, one of Veronica’s best friends. Dawn’s the kind of friend every woman needs, loving, dedicated, brutally honest, and a live wire. The kind of woman you don’t put on speakerphone in public because there’s no telling what she’ll say.

The cinematography by Pedro Luque is stunning. The way bright, rich colors fill the scenes where Veronica is living her everyday life vs. the muted tones used in the plantation scenes was a great touch.

Let’s take a second to talk about the costume design by Mary Zophres, she did an amazing job making the cast look authentic and the period costumes were spot on.

Antebellum is hard to stomach between slavery, rape, torture, and death. We all know terrible things happened during slavery but actually seeing it on screen is something altogether different. The movie is shocking, brutal, soul-crushing, and horrific, but at the same time, powerful and moving, especially the ending. Antebellum made me experience a wide range of emotions. I got angry, I got sad, and I was moved. Hell, I even shed a tear or two, so I’m giving it a 4/5.

Antebellum arrives on 4K Ultra HD™ Combo Pack (plus Blu-ray and Digital), Blu-ray Combo Pack (plus DVD and Digital), DVD, Digital, and On Demand November 3, 2020, from Lionsgate.