Antebellum

Antebellum is a thriller starring Janelle Monáe as Veronica Henley, a well-respected and renowned, modern day sociologist and author, who ends up on a 19th-century slave plantation. 

The movie is branded as a horror but boarders more on the lines of a thriller. The previews were very misleading to what the plot actually ended up being about. The intensity wasn’t as heightened as I had expected it to be. It was still however, unpredictable and interesting. Keeping the ambiguity of the situation until the end kept me on the edge of my toes for the entire movie. It kind of gave me M. Night Shyamalan vibes. 

In their feature directorial debuts, Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz, left much to be wanted in the terms of the script and character development. They did however do well in the cinematography department with the lighting, edits, vast landscapes.

Janelle Monáe was the star of this film. She did well in role bringing a lot of intelligence, poise, intensity and strength to the character. The film also stars Jena Malone, Jack Huston, Kiersey Clemons, and Gabourey Sidibe. They all took on unique roles that were outside their typical wheelhouses which I thought was interesting. Sidibe’s small role as Dawn though was by far the funniest and most light-hearted part of this entire movie.

Even though Antebellum was missing a lot of key pieces for me, I still felt like it wrapped up well and gave me the closure that I needed. This isn’t a movie that I would watch again but I was happy to support Janelle Monáe and give it a chance.