Antebellum

Antebellum is a 2020 American horror film, directed by Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz in their directorial debuts, and starring Janelle Monáe, Eric Lange, Jena Malone, Jack Huston, Kiersey Clemons, and Gabourey Sidibe. It was released in the United States through Premium video on demand on September 18, 2020, and theatrically in several other countries.

Plot
Successful author Veronica Henley is finishing a book tour before she returns home to her husband and daughter. But a shocking turn of events is about to upend Veronica's existence, plunging her into a horrifying reality that forces her to confront her past, present and future -- before it's too late.

Why It's Not So Scary

 * 1) Unoriginal story; it's basically a rip-off of The Village and Get Out, only it lacks anything that made the latter good.
 * 2) The plot is rather under-developed.
 * 3) The movie is overly-reliant on exposition. Literally in the first 40 minutes, we get a backstory of Veronica/Eden in the modern-day, where she is supposedly taken back in time.
 * 4) False advertising: Although advertised as a supernatural horror film, there's nothing supernatural in the actual movie.
 * 5) The movie is extremely unsubtle with its political message on racism and white people.
 * 6) The plot twist - that the "plantation" is actually in the modern-day, run by modern-day racists - is ridiculous and contrived, and adds nothing to the story.
 * 7) * It also ends up raising a lot of questions, like how no one noticed a lot of people disappearing, or how no one has tried to escape.
 * 8) The villains have no real depth beyond being racists.
 * 9) The posters are ripped off from The Silence of the Lambs, with a monarch butterfly in place of the infamous death's head hawkmoth, which is a major red flag.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) The plot itself would be interesting, if the writing was better.
 * 2) The cinematography - in particular, the opening sequence - is decent.
 * 3) The acting is decent.
 * 4) * Janelle Monáe's performance is one of the saving factors of the movie.

Reception
Antebellum received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics and audiences, who felt it did not live up to the full potential of its premise. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 27% based on 130 reviews, with an average rating of 4.74/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Antebellum fails to connect its images with any meaning, making for a largely unpleasant experience lacking any substantial scares.". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 44 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."

Oh the other hand, audience reception was more mixed with 61% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Videos
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