I couldn't really get into this one unfortunately which is a shame, because I really liked the trailers and this premise had so much potential. Janelle Monáe gives a good performance in it though and Eric Lange, Jena Malone and Jack Huston all give pretty effective villainous performances, but I felt like there was no character development or actual characters in this movie at all.

I didn't even care that much about Janelle Monáe's character despite the fact that she does go through a lot of awful shit in this movie like most of the people in it, but I just didn't like how they handled the structure of her backstory in this and I especially could care less about the scenes that she had with her friends particularly Gabourey Sidibe who I just found incredibly annoying everytime she was on screen.

It has a pretty creepy/eerie atmosphere at times and I do think they did a half decent job of utilizing slavery in a more horror esque fashion, but the execution could have been much better IMO.

C-

Really liked this! Janelle Monáe is a STAH and I found the messages the movie was trying to convey resonated well. The ending I found to be particularly moving too. A bit heavy handed, but overall entertaining and moving for me.

Also please do not come for my queen Gabourey aka Dawn who was a true bad bitch and scene stealer!

This felt very undercooked. The performances are fine and it's visually gorgeous (I also loved the score) but by the time it starts getting interesting it kind of just ends. It's a very middle-of-the-road movie, nothing overtly wrong with it but not a ton to praise either. C+

This is how a Jorden Peele movie without Jordan Peele feels like. Its clear that the movie derived its concept from Get Out but that's where the similarities between the two end. The execution, screenplay has no menace or nuances needed to make this great. The acting is really good and while most of the movie is in the night its looks really good. But it fails where it really matters, the escape to me was fine, but its before that what didn't connect. It shows the horrors of being captive in this setup but never really goes deep into those and the actors playing captors are not menacing enough here.

C

Possibly the most underrated movie of the year. I don't get the horrendous reviews. I would have liked a bit more character development and it's not as thought-provoking as I believe it intends to be, but it's still a pretty cool movie. The first 35 minutes are difficult to watch. I paused it at 31 minutes because I needed to take a break from the misery. Thankfully we're given a break basically right after I paused it. If I would have known I wouldn't have even needed to stop it.

Somehow I managed to avoid hearing about the twist which is honestly pretty awesome. I know it's been done before but I really didn't see it coming and thought it worked very well. Janelle Monáe was great. Cinematography is great. It's a well-made flick. The reviews did lower my expectations and I almost didn't bother watching it. Glad I decided to give it a chance anyway.

8/10

Also, it's better than Us. Like a lot better. Don't @ me.

Antebellum is very pretty to look at, but from start to finish it is unpleasant to watch. They should have started with Janelle in the present before sending her to the horrors of Antebellum land. That wouldn’t have fixed everything, but at least I’d have a chance to invest in the character rather than checking out during the 30 minutes of torture porn.

F-