Director: Gerard Bush, Christopher Renz
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Runtime: 105 Minutes
Main Cast: Janelle Monae, Eric Lange, Jena Malone, Jack Huston, Kiersey Clemons, Gabourey Sidibe, Marque Richardson, Robert Aramayo, Lily Cowles
Plot: Eden (Janelle Monae) finds herself trapped on a plantation, working as a slave in the cotton fields and is biding her time, waiting for the perfect moment to escape. Veronica (also Janelle Monae) is a hugely successful business woman and black rights activist but is finding herself being stalked by an unsettling woman with questionable motives. Eden and Veronica’s stories are entwined…but how?
My Thoughts: I’m the biggest sucker for marketing, and I know it, which makes it worse. I was so glad Antebellum got a VoD release rather than be pushed back in cinemas. Why? Because my dumb-ass read “The Producer of Get Out and US” and translated that as Antebellum being Jordan Peele’s latest horror. Antebellum WISHES is could be Jordan Peele’s latest horror. My biggest gripe is that the entire movie is already there in the trailer, plot twist and all. WHY?! Give me the software and I’ll edit you a trailer for it. It might not be good but it’ll at least not spoil the entire movie. Let’s say the trailer for Sixth Sense (1999) included a clip of Bruce Willis’s character being murdered, that’s how revealing it is.
Anyway, it’s not all bad and I’m not here solely to rant. Janelle Monae is incredible and brings so much energy into this movie. Jena Malone plays a very over the top character but she’s fun to watch, at least. The story itself is interesting and kept me engaged throughout, but I guess I was waiting for a twist that wouldn’t happen because without knowing, I already knew it. I realise I’m back to ranting again. I promise I enjoyed parts of this! The scenes at the plantation were the strongest and the opening to the movie was particularly strong and unsettling. See? I can be positive.
But it always brings me back to the ending. Sure, there’s a bit more to the twist that I didn’t see coming but it winds up feeling anti climatic because we’re never given a why. What was the point in it all? What was the antagonist’s motive? There’s a moment of clarity and then bam! Credits. Oh.
Best Bit: The shot of Eden walking away with the torch held high was nothing short of awesome. Just like in Birds of Prey (2020) and Ready or Not (2019), I feel like every movie needs a scene wherein a bad ass woman walks away slowly from a burning building.
Worst Bit: Did we ever get an explanation for the creepy little girl following Veronica around in the hotel?!
Fun Trivia: Gerard Bush got the idea from a nightmare he once had. He initially thought it would be a good basis for a short story, but he later developed it with co-director Christopher Renz into a screenplay for a feature film.
My Rating: 2 out of 5 bold lipsticks that I definitely think I could pull off.
The only reason I want to see it is Jena as I heard she plays a wild and over-the-top character and just kills it.
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I was considering paying the PVOD fee until the reviews started coming out. I went and spoiled the twist for myself after reading Candice’s thoughts on it and…yikes. I’ll just watch the White Bear episode of Black Mirror instead.
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Yeah it’s just…not done very well. It could have been great in the right hands but…yeah.
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The reviews for this one ware so mixed thus far!
I can’t decide whether I want to watch it or not. 🙈
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If you do, don’t watch a trailer! Go in as blind as you can 🙂
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What’s with movies lately that are all hype and no pay off? I haven’t seen the trailer fortunately, but now I don’t think I want to see it anyway!
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You might enjoy it a bit more than I did if you go in blind but I think even then, it’s not as good as we all hoped 😦
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