Antebellum, 2020, Thriller/Horror

Directed by Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz

Trigger warning: verbal abuse, bigotry and racism, emotional abuse, gaslighting, on screen torture, misogyny, slavery, on screen brutal murder, on screen suicide, on screen loss of a child, abuse and violence against women, racist iconography .....just honestly check them all off here, it’s brutal.

I am always down to watch a movie by Black Filmmakers with Black Talent at the center of the narrative, and I love that filmmakers like Jordan Peele have really helped open more doors for that. I'm very much looking forward to seeing the Candyman update, and have thoroughly enjoyed films like The Girl With All the Gifts, and even cult faves (both new and old) such as Ma, Blacula, Gangje and Hesse, Bones, etc. And so I was very excited to watch Antebellum after learning its creative team of writer/directors was an interracial gay couple, and also because I truly admire Janelle Monae -- singer, actress, queer icon - it truly seemed like a combination of creative perspectives that would be right up my alley! That being said, this movie was a bit of a miss for me. (And once again, no shame in enjoying it if you did. It's just not my thing.)

Early trailers had framed Antebellum as a movie modeled after an Octavia Butler plot; I was excited to see how Janelle Monae would lend her power on screen for something like that. It turns out, though, that these trailers are wholly misleading and it is a far cry from the implied connections to Octavia Butler’s work (although I now understand it was perhaps meant to reflect more of the visuals from Gone With the Wind instead). It also seems a little unfair that the new Hollywood thing is to compare every Black helmed Horror film as the next Get Out or Us. Not everything needs to be a carbon copy, and nor should it be, so I was desperately hoping it wouldn't have either of those vibes either. Thankfully this film is its own thing, which is great, but it also doesn't do it any favors. 

I don’t fault the talent here for signing on, as it by all means could have hit the bullseye and been The Next Big Thing and really become iconic! Janelle Monae carried this entire movie and Gabourey Sidibe came in with the assist, but overall the character development here was too shallow for the audience to really connect with Monae’s character; we end up with a hollowed out shell of the image the creators really wanted us to perceive. There are some clever scenes and dialogue, though, and the way Monae’s character and Sidibe’s as her bff stand up and shut down the white folks around them are fantastic, witty, poised, and entertaining. There's plenty of “YES. FUCK YOOOOOUUUUU!” energy that I loved, and I wish there was more of that dynamic. I'd have enjoyed it if these women had a little more screen time together!

Being thrust into the reveal of The Big Bad, though, seems to come on very suddenly and without warning, and with stronger writing that would have worked in its favor. As it stands though, we learn so little about anyone's motives beyond the most obvious, and that didn't really have the same impact. There is a lot of mystery built with so little information given, and I wish that they'd spent a little more time with a creative reveal and backstory. And I do feel it was a little cheap to allow so many to assume the connection to Butler's work. It's just a little hollow and obvious, and that made the whole project fall flat overall. By the time it wrapped up, I found myself feeling a little sad that Monae's incredibly emotional yet powerful presence was a little wasted here. Relatedly, the twist is hardly a twist; it's given itself away in the first 40 mins to the observant viewer. And by the time any distracted viewers catch up? You’re going to just find disappointment and glorification of violence. It doesn’t seem to land the blows (literally and metaphorically) that the filmmakers intend to dish out.

Perhaps I'm looking at this from an outsider perspective, and I do understand it is intended to create a lot of discomfort in white audiences, of course. But overall I felt it read a little bit too much peddling trauma porn, and less like horror. There's so much brutality and violence in this world, and plenty of it doled out over the last few years by racist bigots, that I don't feel like we needed to watch more slave-whipping and plantation centric violence.

Visually and aesthetically, this movie is quite compelling. I appreciate the time jumping, which creates the initial disorienting chaos and anxiety and draws parallels between Black Joy of present Veronica Henley and Black Pain of Eden that is yet to be revealed. The cinematography and lighting are effective, and they expound on this sense of dread and terror, but sometimes a little too much so. And I'd also like to take a moment to give some accolades here to the wardrobe and stylist on this movie, because these women have the best outfits. Each one of the pieces in Monae's wardrobe (and her friends) are absolutely stunning to behold. There's power, poise, and confidence in these outfit choices and they perfectly compliment the attitude of the characters! Let this creative team work together to put more energy like this out into film, please. The stark contrast between Veronica's styles meant to showcase all of the facets of modern Black Woman in outfits that portray both power, softness, and vulnerability with the rougher, basic, distressed wardrobe of Eden, was effective in creating more emotional nuance. These were some of those most successful elements at delivering the films messaging.

As good as it looks, story wise it all feels a little shallow quite frankly, and there are others who have found far more eloquent and effective ways to tackle ongoing issues and current events (such as white supremacy, racism, secession, socioeconomic disparities, etc) with more creative, clever allegory and finesse. It is a shame that this seemed more focused on dehumanizing its central characters in such a heavy handed way that it ends up becoming the very type of media it’s trying not to be. It's almost there, but just not quite. 

I also recognize that I'm viewing this from a very different perspective as a white audience member. So I do acknowledge there may be lived experiences and nuance that I'm missing without the perspectives of being a Black individual. I do not mean to speak for anyone on that angle, and I'm absolutely open to hearing more from Black filmgoers who enjoyed it, if you're open to sharing. I'd be willing to give it a second watch with fresh eyes to get more out of it!

That being said, I'd still like to see what all else these filmmakers come up with, because it's very clear that they have a strong perspective and a lot of potential. Please, Hollywood, give them more opportunities to hone their craft and give us more content. I look forward to seeing more from them!

Movie review by Ellen Avigliano

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