'Antebellum' Review
R: Disturbing violent content, language, and sexual references
Runtime: 1 Hr and 45 Minutes
Production Companies: QC Entertainment, Bush+Renz
Distributor: Lionsgate
Director: Gerard Bush, Christopher Renz
Writer: Gerard Bush, Christopher Renz
Cast: Janelle Monáe, Eric Lange, Jena Malone, Jack Huston, Kiersey Clemons, Gabourey Sidibe
Release Date: September 18, 2020
Successful author Veronica Henley finds herself trapped in a horrifying reality that forces her to confront the past, present and future -- before it's too late.
I am tired. I am so fucking tired. I cannot express how physically and mentally exhausted I am from watching slave movies that offer little to no substance in terms of story and only deliberately emphasizes the brutal racial violence/torture that Black people have faced. Whether it’s a film made by Black people (Harriet), White people (Django Unchained), or — in this case — BOTH, I am so sick and tired of having to see slavery movie after slavery movie of Black people getting whipped, raped, mutilated, and every other abhorrent action you can think of. But the fact that a movie utilized the most disgusting imagery of racial trauma as the basis of a horror movie is the most tone-deaf, ill-conceived shit you could ever imagine. No, I’m not saying this because of the current social issues regarding Black Lives Matter because I would’ve come down hard on this movie either way.
From the very beginning of the film, first-time writer/directors Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz throw the audience into a horrifyingly brutal world that somewhat feels like they’re romanticizing the abhorrent cruelty of racism. Set on a Louisiana slave plantation, the first images follow a Black woman running for her life in slow motion amongst a dusky backdrop as confederate White men on horses chase after her. She’s caught and shot in the head by the master. Then, we see her lifeless corpse being dragged on the field. If that’s not enough, what follows immediately after the title card is a prolonged sequence of a new slave named Eden (Janelle Monáe) being physically tortured. For ten minutes straight, the movie exhibits sequences of stomach-churning, gratuitous racial violence and it maintains that grueling energy throughout. It’s never even entertaining or interesting, for it plays like a fucking endurance test, especially if you’re a Black viewer.
You’re probably wondering, “Wait, the marketing made this movie seem like it has a supernatural or sci-fi element to it.” Well, guess what? There’s none of that. The horror factor is solely rooted in the disturbing images of these Black characters being treated in the most horrifying ways. It relies entirely on shock value, getting an uncomfortable rise out of its audience, which is completely manipulative. It’s as if Antebellum went out of its way to have more gratuitous violence than 12 Years A Slave, Django Unchained, and every other slave movie combined but without the nuances of strong storytelling. It’s so fucking tasteless and lazy to take a real part of African-American history and reinvigorate that Black trauma as the sole basis of a horror movie. Because of that, the lead character (Eden) and the only other Black character, Julia (played by Kiersey Clemons), aren’t given any genuine sense of character.
Even then when the film shifts to the present, the writing remains terrible where Veronica (Monáe) is a sociologist having to deal with right-wing White people denouncing her thoughts on intersectionality. The writing is so on-the-nose that it doesn’t feel genuine or smart in the slightest.
I believe Janelle Monáe is a genius, which is a word I don’t use lightly. She’s a great songwriter, a talented actress, a visionary… but she needs to fire her fucking agent. Whoever is booking these roles for her needs to get their ass fired immediately. How do you go from making a dope, empowering, and memorable album like Dirty Computer to starring in two slave movies in a row, one where you’re killed off by a Black slave bounty hunter and the other where you’re presented more as a victim than a hero?
Now, what really pissed me off about Antebellum was the twist, which has to be the most basic thing I’ve seen in a long time. This movie deadass thought that doing a shift to the three-act structure would make it clever?! These writers deliberately made a Black torture-porn horror flick as a means to trick the audience into thinking it was set during a specific time period? They consciously went forward with an over-the-top, brutal depiction of slavery as both the entire basis of horror and to trick the audience into a predictable, shallow story. What was the reason? No really, WHAT WAS THE FUCKING REASON?! These Tweedledee and Tweedledumbasses didn’t have the brain cells to create anything of actual intellect, so they used such a trite and repugnant approach to mask their incompetence. That’s the most tone-deaf decision you can ever make as a storyteller and filmmaker. The fact that they tried to market this film as a sci-fi/supernatural horror when it’s just a poorly-constructed horror flick while utilizing the “From the producers of Get Out” tag to lure in Black audiences is criminal.
Congratulations, Desperados. As shitty as you were, you no longer hold the mantle as the worst movie I’ve seen this year. That spot is (unsurprisingly) now taken by Antebellum. I say this with every fiber in of my being: fuck this movie.
