12 years a slave movie review

Rating: 9/10 (4 January 2016)

12 Years a Slave is the story of Solomon Northup, a northern abolitionist who was taken from the free north into the enslaved south, and for the next 12 years he spent his time waiting for the opportunity to reunite with his family. One aspect of the film that I found Intriguing was when Solomon was drugged and taken back to the deep south. This fascinated me in many ways. One being how easily a free black man could have been taken back to the south. The brutality of how slaves were treated horrified me. What scares me the most was not the whippings or the punishments, but how one man can brainwash himself into doing unimaginable acts of cruelty towards another human. What also piqued my interest was Solomon's determination to live and find his family. His faith that he will return to his family was the only thing that kept him alive. Although this movie was very dark and the treatment of the slaves was extremely realistic idea of what some slave owners were like and Solomon's journey. I would recommend this movie to someone who wants to really understand what it was like to be a slave in full, graphic detail.