Excellent: 9.5

Rating: 9/10 (28 July 2019)

British director Steve McQueen (not that one) has made three movies, each being harder to watch than the last. He takes subjects that inherently feature as showcases of man's potential cruelty. His last film, Shame, featured Michael Fassbender as a man for whom the act of sex holds no appeal, no matter how he tried to rectify it. 12 Years a Slave, though not as painful, is no less powerful. As with Shame, it features an incredible lead performance, this time by Chiwetel Ejiofor. He plays Solomon Northup, a born-free black man who was kidnapped off the streets of Washington D.C. and sold into slavery. In addition to the performances, the main stars are the art direction and score. McQueen has a clear eye for striking imagery, but only when he finds time for it amidst the atrocity. Hans Zimmer, the composer who made his name with The Dark Knight and Inception, brings just the right amount of menace to the film's soundtrack, and ends up as one of his more understated works. So while 12 Years is certainly not for everyone, it's something everyone should see.