Why Many Are Wrong About ‘Antebellum’

Upon finishing Antebellum, I needed about half an hour to gather my thoughts. I then needed another two hours when I saw the overall critics and audience consensus on Antebellum was definitively disappointed. Did I miss something? Are these people all discussing the same film I just watched?

You see, to me, Antebellum was one of those films that stuck with me after seeing it. It actually took me a couple of days before I could sit at my laptop and write down my thoughts on it. Frankly, Antebellum blew me away. Antebellum was what I needed and was scared of at the same time. I believe it needs to be encouraged to immerse oneself into the history and fear African-Americans experienced. Even though we can all open history books and read about it; to truly be given the feeling of being a person dealing with these fears head-on is something entirely different.

And yes, there have been many impactful films about slavery in recent years, but none are quite like Antebellum. The film holds a mirror up to modern society for the ways white people let themselves be influenced by what our forefathers did and believed. If you think that’s a tough pill for you to swallow, you owe this film a watch.

Try Not to Spoil It for Yourself

So let’s dive into the plot. Antebellum is one of those films that you don’t want to spoil. While I usually don’t enjoy watching trailers anyway because I prefer watching films with an open mind, I thoroughly recommend to not watch the trailer posted at the bottom of this review (but I am still going to include it). Watching it now, I worry about how much it potentially gives away.

So, what am I willing to say: The film opens with Eden (Janelle Monáe) waking up after having been bought and enslaved on a plantation. She is instantly looked up to both by her peers and the white men leading the camp who seemingly appear to have an equal fascination for her.

And that’s really all you want to know when coming into it. The film manages to bring a constant feeling of not having a clue what to expect and not knowing at all how the plot is going to wrap up. Being thrown off track several times, I watched with the feeling something new and equally chilling could be lurking behind any corner.

This is Not a Jordan Peele Movie

Something I think people didn’t love about Antebellum is the link to Jordan Peele they presume it had due to the film’s marketing materials, which seemed to confuse audiences. Some might even presume this is Peele’s latest masterpiece, however, it is the feature debut from music video directors Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz. Their music video backgrounds became abundantly clear from the first scene. We slowly follow the camera through all areas of the plantation to music. Antebellum has a few of these moments, all beautifully conducted.

The only real link that earned Antebellum the “from the makers of Get Out and Us” marketing tagline is that many films share some of the same executive producers. Peele isn’t responsible for Antebellum just as Tarantino wasn’t the main creative force behind Hostel, even though the posters might have implied otherwise at the time.

The peripheral links to Peele, however, are not entirely out of place. Antebellum has a similar way of portraying long-term societal issues through modern concepts, while sticking to messaging that is both relevant to historical trauma as well as the current moment in which systematic racism is unfortunately still very much alive.

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