The Washington Post
(Even Monáe) can't elevate Antebellum above roots that are firmly planted in the blood and soil of pulp exploitation, shaky liberal earnestness and rank opportunism.
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Antebellum
Janelle Monáe (Hidden Figures) leads this mystery horror from the producer of Get Out and Us. Veronica Henley (Monáe) is a modern-day author who finds herself mysteriously trapped in the nightmare of the past, transported to the 19th century as a slave in the US South, face to face with her ancestors - and their tormentors.
2020Rating: R16, Violence, cruelty, sexual violence, offensive language & suicide105 minsUSA
Horror
- Director:
- Gerard BushChristopher Renz (feature debuts)
- Writer:
- Gerard BushChristopher Renz
- Cast:
- Janelle MonáeJena MaloneJack HustonKiersey ClemonsGabourey Sidibe
Antebellum / Reviews
Vulture
A travesty of craft and filmmaking with a perspective that hollows out the Black experience in favor of wan horror.
Full reviewThe New York Times
Antebellum presents the lurid spectacle of a woman's humiliation as if it were a fable of empowerment.
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RogerEbert.com
(Antebellum) leaves an icky taste in your mouth in its leering, exploitative depiction of violent, slavery movie tropes.
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Bloody Disgusting
Bush and Renz use blunt force to convey their film's social messaging, and it's at the expense of everything else.
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Hollywood Reporter
In the end, Antebellum is undone by a lack of empathy and emotion. It has no real perspective on the past and thus fails to make any real impact on the present.
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IndieWire
Antebellum might have been a movie that met this awful moment, but its confused attempt at seeing yesterday in today resolves as a throwback to a time when anyone could actually overlook it in good faith.
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A.V. Club
If only the filmmakers trusted their actors to convey the messages of this story, instead of burdening them with obvious, explanatory lines and speeches.
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Slash Film
Antebellum feels curiously unfinished. Rushed, even. You catch a glimpse of what the filmmakers are going for here, but never entirely buy it.
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Entertainment Weekly
The star works valiantly to channel Eden/Veronica's pain and confusion, and the whole humanity of a life her captors so casually dismiss. As a performer, she commits utterly; if only the story could do the same.
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Variety
While Antebellum is no zombie movie, it treats systemic racism as a kind of contagion that refuses to die, eating the brains of successive generations. There’s only one way to stop it, and that’s by blowing the minds of all those infected — which is precisely the impact Antebellum achieves.
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