The movie Antebellum made its nationwide debut on September 18, 2020. The modern day twist on the civil war leaves even the most experienced horror mystery watcher unsuspecting in this new release by directors Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz.
The title of the film sets the stage for what’s to come: war and slavery. The leading lady,Veronica Henley, played by the star studded actress and singer Janelle Mona’e, takes us on a journey that begins on a plantation. Veronica, who is first introduced as Eden at the start of the film, was seen trying to run away from the plantation and is soon after captured and beaten into submission. Though this scene took place in the beginning of the movie, it was confusing to understand what was taking place until it was midway through. The plot seemed to be fairly simple until the protagonist character wakes up as Veronica in a seemingly present-day scenario.
The film in totality was pretty hard to follow since the time traveling aspect isn’t mentioned or explained until the end. The beginning half of the film was slow moving after the opening scene, with the first thirty-five minutes of the movie depicting what life was like on a plantation, and showed the mistreatment of slaveholders and resistance of the slaves. With the countless numbers of movies on slavery, nothing truly set it apart from the rest.
Though the actress did a great job in her role, the storyline was a bit lackluster to say the least. When Veronica wakes up in present-day, she is an author and commentator who fights for black issues. She wakes from a dream which seems to be from the past but is later unknowingly stalked, harassed and captured by the plantation mistress from her supposed dream. Confusing, right? She is then captured by the woman and dragged to a war reenactment plantation where she is forced to be a slave because of her influence over the black community. It isn’t until this moment that you realize the beginning of the movie is actually the present day as well, and tells the story of what happens after she was captured.
Overall, the movie was just okay. I wouldn’t recommend buying it, but if it’s a free option, then go for it. The story line is all over the place and isn’t detailed enough to captivate an audience for an hour and forty-five minutes. Though the acting was shockingly good, this film didn’t do the actress justice.
The movie is pegged as a drama, horror and mystery film, but falls short in one or more of those areas. It is disappointing knowing the acting capabilities of the cast because it would be much easier to blame this flop as bad casting, but the writers of this script fell short in clarity. Though time traveling always adds a sense of excitement and adventure to any movie, the lack of transition in this one is a bit disenchanting.
Antebellum isn’t a horrible film but falls flat in multiple areas. If your interest is a combination of horror, mystery and drama, don’t look to this film to fulfill that desire.
