12 Years a Slave (2013)
Average Rating: 8.9/10
Reviews Counted: 30
Fresh: 29 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 10/10
Critic Reviews: 7
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 0
No consensus yet.
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User Ratings: 8,228
Movie Info
Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as Solomon Northup, the New York State citizen who was kidnapped and made to work on a plantation in New Orleans in the 1800s. Steve McQueen (Hunger) directs from a script he co-wrote with John Ridley, based in part by Northup's memoir. Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sarah Paulson, and Paul Giamatti co-star. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
Oct 18, 2013 Limited
Fox Searchlight
Cast
-
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Solomon Northrup, So... -
Michael Fassbender
Edwin Epps -
Brad Pitt
Bass -
Benedict Cumberbatch
Ford -
Paul Giamatti
Freeman -
Sarah Paulson
Mistress Epps -
Paul Dano
Tibeats -
Lupita Nyong'o
Patsey -
Alfre Woodard
Mistress Shaw -
Michael Kenneth Will...
Robert -
Scoot McNairy
Brown -
Garret Dillahunt
Armsby -
Dwight Henry
Uncle Abram -
Dickie Gravois
Overseer -
Bryan Batt
Judge Turner -
Ashley Dyke
Anna -
Kelsey Scott
Anne Northup -
Quvenzhane Wallis
Margaret Northup -
Tony Bentley
Mr. Moon -
Taran Killam
Hamilton -
Christopher Berry
Burch -
Bill Camp
Radburn -
Mister Mackey Jr.
Randall -
Chris Chalk
Clemens -
Craig Tate
John -
Adepero Oduye
Eliza -
Storm Reid
Emily -
Tom Proctor
Biddee -
Marc Macaulay
Captain -
Vivian Fleming-Alvar...
Mulatto Woman -
Douglas M. Griffin
Sailor -
John McConnell
Jonus Ray -
Marcus Lyle Brown
Jasper -
Richard Holden
Fitzgerald -
Robert Steinberg
Parker -
Anwan Glover
Cape -
J.C. Victor
Buyer -
Liza J. Bennett
Mistress Ford -
Nicole Collins
Rachel -
J.D. Evermore
Chapin -
Andy Dylan
Treach -
Deneen D. Tyler
Phebe -
Mustafa Harris
Sam -
Gregory Bright
Edward -
Austin Purnell
Bob -
Thomas Francis Murph...
Patroller -
Andre Shanks
Victim 1 -
Kelvin Harrison
Victim 2 -
Scott M. Jefferson
Master Shaw -
Isaiah Jackson
Zachary -
Topsy Chapman
Slave Spiritual Sing... -
Devin Maurice Evans
Slave Spiritual Sing... -
Jay Huguley
Sheriff -
Willo Jean-Baptiste
Margaret's Husband
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12 Years a Slave Trailer & Photos
All Critics (30) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (29) | Rotten (1)
Believe the Oscar buzz. Britain's Steve McQueen (Hunger, Shame) nails the horror of America's slavery shame but also finds humanity in one man's determination to free himself and return to his family.
Top CriticIt's not too soon to call 12 Years a Slave a great film-ruined, tremulously sad, surreal in its evil.
In the epic form of 12 Years a Slave, his most approachable, emotional film, McQueen escalates the tension.
12 Years a Slave is a movie about a life that gets taken away, and that's why it lets us touch what life is.
A strong, involving, at times overstated telling of an extraordinary life story.
This epic account of an unbreakable soul makes even Scarlett O'Hara's struggles seem petty by comparison.
There's none of Django Unchained's revenge fantasies or tomfoolery here, only a sober depiction of the cruelty and oppression that defined a long and very ugly chapter of American history.
A sobering drama about racism and slavery that will sear your soul and set you thinking about the shadow side of American history.
The drooping Spanish moss is about the only visual icon that this film shares with Gone With the Wind.
Watching this brutal kidnapping and torture, it is impossible not to be similarly haunted by US atrocities today that continue under a sinister cloak of legality. From Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, to the disappeared into secret US prisons around the world.
I already feel like I have to defend myself for saying it's just good.
In many ways, Northrup, an educated free man, is the ideal avatar for the modern audience. He, like us, does not come to slavery naturally or easily.
Steve McQueen's impersonal approach to his subject matter isn't solely to blame for the failure of 12 Years a Slave, a safely anecdotal mosaic closer in spirit to Edward P. Jones's The Known World than to Toni Morrison's radically constructed Beloved.
"12 Years" is a powerful drama driven by McQueen's bold direction and the finest performance of Chiwetel Ejiofor's career.
Equally grisly and beautiful, '12 Years' is the reason why films are made. A movie you must-see, no matter how gory or violent. McQueen strangles the psychosis of racism, forcing the viewer to witness ugliness with no escape. A modern day masterpiece.
It's a story that transcends the typical expectations of the slave narrative, a story that indeed isn't about a slave but a man, a human being, fighting for his soul.
This magnificent, shocking work is likely to become a sort of reference text about the horrors of one of the darkest chapters in America's history.
...refuses to take the easy road.
12 Years a Slave provides a new, deeply emotional subject for director Steve McQueen to apply his skills to, and it's a beautiful and devastating fit.
Using his signature visual composition and deafening sound design, Steve McQueen portrays the harrowing realism of Northrup's experience and the complicated relationships between master and slave, master and master, slave and slave, and so on.
It's the nobility of this remarkable film that pierces the soul.
Audience Reviews for 12 Years a Slave
Super Reviewer
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- Solomon Northrup: I'm a free man!
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Early Award Predictions | 2 days ago | 40 |
| Guess the Tomatometer | 21 days ago | 19 |
| 100%! | 23 days ago | 6 |
| ALL TROLLS REPORT HERE. | 49 days ago | 1 |
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Foreign Titles
- Twelve Years a Slave (DE)
- 12 Years a Slave (UK)
