Film Review: Antebellum

By Sam Clark

“Antebellum,” starring singer and actress Janelle Monae, is a new pseudo-horror social commentary being released straight to video-on-demand. Monae stars as a woman seemingly navigating between two time periods. The trailer is very coy in concealing the film’s true premise - as it’s a film best experienced without a synopsis. That said, “Antebellum” is ultimately a clutter of compelling ideas executed unsuccessfully.

The film finds it’s identity in debt to what Jordan Peele has done for the genre. With films like “Get Out” and “Us,” Peele has transcended the machinations of horror storytelling by lacing his films with trenchant racial insights. “Antebellum” is clearly an emulation of his successes - and often feels like a film that would have been high caliber if handled by Peele himself. Although the final product feels more like a rough cut, there are still aspects worth appreciating. A loaded base concept matched with a fully committed Janelle Monae seems like a sure thing at ground level. But the artistic choices made by the filmmakers leave the audience feeling hollow and disengaged.

While the film is beautifully shot, each frame feels curiously empty and void of relevance. By the time the movie starts to pick up, we’re already three-quarters of the way through it. This droll pacing lingers through “Antebellum”s entire duration directly due to its bizarre structural employment. By trying so hard to make something “different” and defying narrative conventions - the filmmakers sacrifice key elements of basic storytelling. Its transitions are so inorganic that it fails to keep it’s momentum and even coherence afloat. The film opts to spend its time on frivolous sequences that feel so misguided, considering its characters are so thinly drawn. There are countless moments in the film that take up space but add nothing to the film’s overall texture.

“Antebellum” can’t help but feel like a missed opportunity. By the time we’ve grasped the full scope of its convictions - we’ve already mentally vacated. It’s a shame, while completely unearned - the film’s twist reflects an idea that had massive potential. Its grain is rooted somewhere in between the likes of “Get Out” and “The Village.” Going back to the drawing board, we can see why the team behind “Antebellum” felt it was the right film to make. Unfortunately, it ends up being riddled with one-dimensional characters in a confounded narrative that goes nowhere and doesn’t really have anything to say.

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