Drama · History
American
2013 · Directed by Steve McQueen · 134 min
In 1841, Solomon Northup is a free Black violinist and family man living in upstate New York. A job offer draws him away from home, and he is plunged into the American slave economy. The film follows his struggle to survive and to hold on to who he is, with a steady, unflinching eye.
Why it matters in cinema history
A defining film of the early 2010s prestige drama and a turning point in how mainstream American cinema pictures slavery, set against the genre's long tradition of softening it.
Watch with intention
Watch how the camera stays with faces and bodies a beat longer than is comfortable, and ask what that duration is asking of you.
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