WTOP's Jason Fraley reviews 'Antebellum'
Even the most shocking movie twists can be undercut by a scattershot execution.
That’s the case with the straight-to-streaming release “Antebellum,” a twisty thriller that makes us think it’s one thing, only to completely flip the script with a twist that makes us dig the premise but wish that was revealed with a better sense of structural pacing.
The film opens on a Louisiana plantation where Eden (Janelle Monáe) works the cotton fields under ruthless slave masters wearing Confederate gray uniforms. Meanwhile, modern-day author Veronica Henley (also Monáe) is haunted by visions of slave brutality as she embarks on a business trip to the big city to give a book talk.
It’s great seeing Monáe in a lead film role after TV’s “Homecoming.” It completes her evolution from singer to actress, from her NASA scientist in “Hidden Figures” (2016) to her stepmom in “Moonlight” (2016) to underground railroad leader in “Harriet” (2019). In “Antebellum,” she finally takes center stage as an empathetic vessel for audiences.
Surrounding her in the modern-day storyline are Marque Richardson (“True Blood”) as husband Nick and Gabourey Sidibe (“Precious”) as her club-going best friend Dawn. On the plantation, you’ll recognize Eric Lange (“Narcos”) as the Confederate general referred to only as “Him” and Jena Malone (“Into the Wild”) as the slave master’s wife.
Needless to say, the plantation sequences are extremely hard to watch, featuring the type of brutal slave-drama violence associated with “Roots” (1977) and “12 Years a Slave” (2013). These harrowing acts are certainly historical fact, but they’ve been done to death on screen to the point that Jai Jamison’s “Slave Cry” spoofed it as cliché.
Thankfully, debut feature writer/directors Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz (“Shame”) try something different by introducing the parallel action of modern-day. Don’t worry, this isn’t a spoiler; the modern-day thread is featured in both the trailer and the IMDB logline, making us keenly aware that there’s more going on than just the period piece.
Knowing this, we the viewers keep waiting for the modern portion to arrive, but rather than intercutting it as parallel action, the film spends a sluggish 40 minutes on the plantation before jumping to the present. This shift should have happened 20 minutes into the film to hook us into the premise. By the time we double back, it’s too late.
This is more a fundamental flaw in the script than a problem with the editing, although there are large stretches where shots hold too long, often in slow-motion. Horror viewers are used to yelling at the screen at characters’ foolish actions, but here we’re yelling for them to hurry up as they take way too long to flee dangerous situations.
Eventually, we get a giant twist — the kind of whopper that made M. Night Shyamalan famous — but by then, we’re already frustrated with the experience. Cynics could argue that the gimmick has been done before, but it still could have worked in new social context if the pacing was right. Can we get a tightened director’s cut for Halloween?
Until then, you’ll just have to experience the twist for yourself. To reveal any more would be criminal, but I have a hunch you’ll appreciate the concept more than the rollout. This Lady Antebellum gets no grade of Lady A; it’s more of a Lady C for creativity that could have been so much better with more disciplined storytelling.
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Review: ‘Antebellum’ undercuts creative thriller premise with structural issues - WTOP
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