Review: ‘Antebellum’ – a Racial Horror That Misses The Mark

Based on the previews, many viewers, myself included, expected Antebellum to be a mix between Jordan Peele’s Get Out and HBO’s latest hit series Lovecraft Country. With this concept and Janelle Monae leading the cast what could go wrong? A lot. Although Monae did a good job bringing her character to life, ultimately, the horror film missed the mark.

Antebellum is Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz‘s directorial debut. Its opening scene takes place on a Louisiana plantation where a woman named Eden (played by Monae) is captured after an escape attempt and is strapped to the back of a horse. On the other side of the plantation, a couple is being tortured – a man is in shackles, and a woman is hunted down and noosed. These images are used for shock value – it is hard to watch but at the same time, it keeps the viewer intrigued.

In this storyline, prior to being kidnapped, enslaved, and renamed, Eden is a successful scholar Veronica Henley. She is also a mother and a brilliant public speaker. Veronica is an intelligent, powerful woman who speaks out against injustices and unapologetically owns her blackness. She has a very public platform and acts as a commentator and activist which makes her a target for her abductors.

While in Louisiana on her latest book tour, Veronica goes out with her girlfriends Dawn (Empire’s Gabourey Sidibe) and Sarah (Lily Cowles, Roswell New Mexico). The three catch up and indulge in girl talk. Sidibe is a much needed addition to the story with her quick wit and one-liners. After the night out, on her Uber ride back, Veronica is kidnapped by the rideshare driver, a woman named Elizabeth (Jena Malone, Hunger Games).

Eden eventually finds herself in a group of others who suffered the same fate. Now enslaved, she is looked upon as the strong one because of her accomplishments and her platform. She, however, is hesitant to take on the role of a leader. A desperate young woman named Julia (Kiersey Clemons, Lady and the Tramp) approaches Eden in hopes that she can save them all. Eden is mentally worn down, and after a failed first attempt to escape, she is just terrified to try it again.

Directors Bush and Renz fail to connect with the audience through Black trauma. Certainly, there have been plenty of movies that portrayed slavery. The scenes in Antebellum, however, are too graphic. In one of them, for instance, Eden is being branded by one of her masters. It is hard to watch, and, as some expressed, unnecessary.

In the end, Veronica manages to flee the horror of Antebellum, which, we learn in the last scene, is a Civil War reenactment park located in Louisiana. Although her escape was meant to bring this story to a conclusion, we were left with many unanswered questions. Despite that, Monae did a great job carrying the film. Although I found the storyline to be weak and lacking character development, she was able to deliver an overall good performance.