Rating of
3/4
Art Imitates Life in a Terrifying Way
Chris Kavan - wrote on 11/03/20
Those expecting Antebellum to be this year's answer to Get Our or Us might be let down. Gerard Bush an Christopher Renz trade classic horror for something much darker - the all too real specter of racial inequality. Granted, taken to the absolute extreme, but a somber reminder of how far some people would probably go if given the opportunity.
Janelle Monáe stands out in her first lead role as Eden - a slave living on a plantation where silence is golden, and breaking said rule can and will result in violence and death. On the other side, she portrays Veronica, a highly successful and distinguished author who is not afraid to voice her opinion on racial inequality in America. The big twist of this story isn't too hard to suss out - even before it hits you with a 2x4 upside the head - but once you think about the implications, and just how many people - on both sides are involved - it can really get under your skin.
Monáe counterpart is Tongayi Chirisa - Eli - who is also kept in slavery and Kiersey Clemons has a small but powerful role as well. On the other side of things, Eric Lange, Jack Huston and Jena Malone make for some effective villains. The film even manages to throw in the classic creepy kid (thank you Arabella Landrum for keeping the tradition alive). Gabourey Sidibe and Lily Cowles round out the main cast as a pair of Veronica's friend with Sidibe also providing a small but fresh take on her character. The cast is certainly well-rounded and thy play well off each other - even when things get violent.
While a certain segment of the population will try to say this film is too political - what with the recent Black Lives Matter movement and protests - the fact is the film just takes things that are already happening and cranks it to the extreme. Do I think there is a modern-day version of this out there? No. But I have no problem stating that there are certainly people out there who, given the chance, would indeed take things this far - and that's why the film is so intense and has a real emotional punch.
Antebellum is not going to satisfy horror fans - not in the traditional sense anyway. And its twist is not as surprising as one would think, but in the end I don't think the twist was really the biggest point. No, that would be despite how far outside of reality the film seems to be - it doesn't seem that far off and that's the really scary thing.
