Vividly captures America's original sin...Forces the viewer to confront it

Rating: 10/10 (23 February 2019)

This film is beyond rating and discussion of technique. It is, simply put, a film every American, white Americans especially, needs to see. McQuee's commitment to show both the violence that was heaped upon black bodies and the degradation heaped upon black souls is a much needed correction to a lot of nonsense in American politics. Moreover, that the three most violent scenes are done in shot, and in long take contain the subtle point of we shouldn't look away. The film is a very hard watch as it should be.
The script does a remarkable job of shaping Northup's ordeal into a universal tale of African slavery. Each of the main points in the slave trad, i.e. the middle passage, being sold, so called "kindly" masters and sheer brutes, all have hearings in the film. The script largely avoids the issue of Northup's story, because he is rescued, being unrepresentative. This is done by always juxtaposing Northup's survival with a person who was so lucky, as most clearly scene in the Northup thinks about running away.
The film is accurate depiction of one of the greatest evils humankind commits. In that way it is a milestone.