12 Years a Slave

“The extraordinary true story of Solomon Northup.”

7.9

2013

2h 14m

DramaHistory

Director: Steve McQueen

Watch on Netflix

Overview

In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life.

Trailer

Official Trailer Official

Cast

Solomon Northup

Chiwetel Ejiofor

Solomon Northup

Edwin Epps

Michael Fassbender

Edwin Epps

Patsey

Lupita Nyong'o

Patsey

William Ford

Benedict Cumberbatch

William Ford

John Tibeats

Paul Dano

John Tibeats

Mary Epps

Sarah Paulson

Mary Epps

Eliza

Adepero Oduye

Eliza

Brown

Scoot McNairy

Brown

Theophilus Freeman

Paul Giamatti

Theophilus Freeman

Samuel Bass

Brad Pitt

Samuel Bass

Robert

Michael Kenneth Williams

Robert

Mistress Shaw

Alfre Woodard

Mistress Shaw

Reviews

kineticandroid

Sometimes, I just have to stop my brain in the middle of a film and just admire its exceptional craftsmanship. I found myself doing that time and time again during this film. Perhaps I was more open to admiring the shot compositions and acting choices because, as I cynically told myself before the film, it's not like I needed much convincing that slavery was bad. Or perhaps it was because I was shielding myself from the honest brutalities the film convincingly portrayed. Nonetheless, I was reminded of the film "Children of Men," because when I watched that, I was struck by how easily I could imagine a less engaging, more dumbed-down version of the same film. I haven't seen enough films about slavery to know this for certain, but I suspect that because many of this film's principals are British, telling a story about a free man who was forced into slavery, as opposed to one born into it, they were able to be gain some valuable distance from the subject and craft something that's both beautiful and feels true to life. And even though I thought I could not have been made to feel worse than I already did about slavery, the post-scripts on the lack of justice Solomon received for his kidnapping and the unknown causes of his death, helped keep the film from lapsing into a kind of "triumph of the spirit" happy ending others might have imposed.

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Andres Gomez

This movie is very, very well done. Well, edited and with the proper long shots at the proper moments bringing you to the life of Solomon without remedy. All the cast performs exceptionally well and Ejiofor is to be remembered for this film. A must to be seen.

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post_orgasmic_mood

Not in a long time have I seen a movie that brings out real emotions from my cold hearted soul. This movie brought them out in floods of tears. the acting was superb, especially from the lead Chiwetel Ejiofor, he acted from his little toe right up to his eyes. The style was also filmed beautifully with some (extremely) painful long shots which pulled you into Solomons nightmare. Im not sure if its a film I could watch again, purely for the emotion but I would recommend this film to everyone.

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