It was all a dream. A nightmare rather. But co-writer and director Gerard Bush ran with the nightmare nonetheless, developing his vision of a slave named Eden with co-writer and director Christopher Renz into the provocative, pointed and somewhat problematic dystopian thriller that is Antebellum. Antebellum, which refers to the period right before a civil war (especially the American Civil War), is a movie with a lot on its mind. 

The nightmare sparked interest aplenty. Studios around Hollywood angling for the next smash horror hit started a bidding war for the rights…before there was even a finished script. And you can feel that fact while watching the movie, particularly in the somewhat disjointed and not as-effective-as-possible third act. Bush and Renz’ clear aspirations to make a powerful statement about Trump-era American racism may only partially live up to its lofty, incendiary goals because it doesn’t quite feel like the ideas are fully germinated. Like any vivid fever dream, their tale presents no small amount of logic gaps and internal inconsistencies. Regardless of how woke they are. 

Though film being distributed by Lionsgate is glad to flag the whole “From producers of Get Out and Us” aspect, Antebellum leans heavily on the past, particularly the pornographic violence of slavery, skimping on the horror in favor of the purely horrific. Where Get Out is actively interested in the modern Black experience, Antebellum’s provocative tale of slavery looks mostly backwards. Those who do not know history may be doomed to repeat it but so too are audiences, who have born witness to no shortage of gut-wrenching slave dramas. Which, it’s worth noting, are by-and-large more stomach-churning than anything that Bush and Renz cook up.

[READ MORE: Our review of Jordan Peele’s chillingly fun 2019 horror smash ‘US’]

Eden, played rather effectively by singer-actress Janelle Monáe, is a slave shackled to the nightmare of being black in pre-Civil War America…but there’s a twist. One that’s not out of step with dystopian realities like Twilight Zone or Black Mirror. Little hints of this are sprinkled through the first act, with anachronisms like a slave with a nose ring or field worker Eli (Tongayi Chirisa) calling the overseer a “cracker”. Although the marketing hasn’t done great work concealing the fact that Antebellum takes place at least partially in the present, I’ll avoid revealing exactly how Bush and Renz connect the dots between American antiquity and modernity because the reveal is admittedly a great twist. 

Partially inspired by the FX show Handmaid’s Tale, Antebellum suffers a similar challenge of being overbearingly oppressive. As a fan of the TV series who’s been willing to overlook the constant suffering of its female characters, I didn’t personally find issue with Antebellum’s blatant heavy-handedness. Sure, the themes could have been handled in a subtler manner, there could have been more compelling character work (especially amongst the supporting cast), it could have actually delivered on its promise of being a horror movie (it’s not really) and all the violent oppression could have all ended on a more climatic note, but that doesn’t devalue the meat and potatoes at the center of this feature. Though undeniably an incendiary work of political fiction, the obvious concerns displayed by Antebellum’s critique are largely justified.   

Our nation is splintered, fractured. At each other’s throats over whether Black or Blue lives matter (spoiler: it’s the former). Rife with protests, counter-protests; civil violence and flagrant unconstitutional rulings. Accusations of communism and fascism. Some would say we’re in a new era of Antebellum. Bush and Renz certainly would. Their film doesn’t want to bridge the gap. It wants to take a side. It wants to spit in the face of the opposition. And maybe that’s ok. 

CONCLUSION: Much last this year’s ‘The Hunt’, ‘Antebellum’ is sure to spark controversy and shock viewers into taking a stance, one way or another. And though it may turn some away with its harsh, backdated depictions of racial violence, there’s an urgent core to the film that’s well worth examining.

B-

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