Everything was stripped from Solomon Northup when he was kidnapped and forced into slavery. For 12 years he was dehumanized and denied his basic human rights, as a slave.

Rating: 9/10 (2 January 2016)

12 Years a Slave perfectly reflects a time in American history that so many have become desensitized to. We start to view events such as the civil war through the lens of a history textbook rather than something that affected real people. As a nation it's easy to overlook that this was a reality for black Americans, that actual lives were ruined and taken advantage of. Lives such as that of Solomon Northup.
Although Solomon's story wasn't an uncommon one as many other free blacks were forced into slavery, it is a perfect example of the monstrosities that slaves faced during this time. One of the things I appreciate about 12 years a slave is that the producers didn't sugar coat the horrors of slavery. Although we will never truly understand the adversities that slaves faced, this movie allows us to comprehend even a fraction of the pains that they had to live with. It was nearly painful to watch some of the more horrendous scenes such as when Solomon (Chiwetel Ejiofor) was forced to whip Patsey (Lupita Nyong'o). Which leads me to believe that this movie is painful because it shows the reality of slavery that many of us have gone so blind to.