Antebellum (Movie Review)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ต.ค. 2024
- Spoiler alert: Antebellum is a bad movie and it's built around a bad, dumb movie twist, and we're going to spoil and discuss the bad, dumb movie twist in this video, because there's no way to adequately express how much this movie sucks without doing so.
Commercial and music video directors Bush + Renz have written and directed their feature film debut, Antebellum, starring Janelle Monae, a movie expertly marketed to mimic Jordan Peele's success with Get Out, a far superior film. What they wind up with is the hyperstylized and fussed over equivalent of grafting black torture porn onto the clean picked bones of M. Night Shyamalan's The Village. Only, somehow, resulting in a much worse film.
Let's dig into it!
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I feel like if they wanted to do a “Running Out of Time” style movie as a horror thriller why not like, have them be black people kidnapped as kids and raised to think it’s the 1800s and then like someone has to escape.
Like the book “Running out of time” was like it’s a reinaction historical sight type place but watched through screens, two way mirrors. And like the kids there don’t know it’s not real but then it turns out it’s like a eugenics experiment so girl raised like it’s the 1800s escapes to the real world and has to find a way to expose it.
And I don’t know how you’d do this with black people and make it about slavery. Or how to do that with sensitivity.
I think there are a million other ways to have explored what they wanted to “explore” and it’s hard to engage with a movie that lets your mind drift to imagining all the ways this movie could be improved.
@@TheArmchairAuteur I kind of wish someone would just make "Running out of Time" it would have been way better than the village or this (inner little girl who liked that book thinks bitterly).
It says something when there's a concept and it's like this could be interesting, and then like, somehow, they manage to mess it up.
Oh well, Get Out was good and now I'm loving Lovecraft Counrty, so at least there's other stuff to watch and this won't lead to the conclusion 'well, black led horror things just don't do well' which is like the conclusion everytime there's a not very good thing about POCs or women and they blame the demographic and not like the film.
I’ll say this: Janelle Monae is so much better than the movie around her. She basically gives three different performances, and even if they don’t connect right because of a bad script, she gives her all in an Oscar bait-style drama, then again in a light and corny modern comedy-drama, and then she goes full-blown action heroine in Act 3. I hope we get to see more of her range as an actress in better movies.
I’ve loved her in Moonlight and Hidden Figures and most of her music, but I don’t think she was anywhere near her potential here. There’s only so much a performer can do when there’s nothing on the page to play.
I was just starting to think we were headed towards a better industry that didnt constantly exploit black pain but here we are
Here. We. Are.
Based on the press spoiling the twist casually I assumed they would reveal the modern day twist as the kickoff - i.e., everyone was being brainwashed in some way (because man that makes no sense that everyone is just going along with things even in private) but Monae's character misses a dose and the entire movie is her escape to get help. What I don't think they realized is the much more interesting film gets the twist over quickly and plays with it, like what if Monae has to pretend but lets some modernisms slip, what if she has to try to break through to other people by reminding them about the modern world while the other slaves insist she's delusional. You even get to play with the meta of Monae being an actress who has to put on a performance to fool everyone.
Yeah, that’s what gets me! Twists should either be at the very end of a movie or like, midway through. But here it’s not early or late enough to be dramatically interesting. It’s such an infuriatingly dumb movie.
Wow, and to think this film could've been something special. Looks like I can skip the shit out of this one then.
Please do lol
Yowza!
Dom, your weird superpower is to make me want to watch films! Even when you're actively saying a film is bad and that people shouldn't watch it, I still come away from your reviews wanting to watch the movie! And with the case of Irresistible, I should have listened to your advice because I was so upset after having watched it. I'll try real hard to listen to your actual words and resist watching this movie.
No, if you feel compelled to see something yourself you ABSOLUTELY should. It’s very common that I hate something other people truly end up enjoying. I am sorry about Irresistible, tho.
@@TheArmchairAuteur Well I have been know to HATE watch a lot of shows and movies but I've been trying to stop myself from watching things that I know will just fill me with rage. Why watch things that suck? Life's too short!
The dialogue in the second act was just so... bad
Truly awful stuff lol
After about the 10th anachronism, I gave up on it. But I guess I didn't miss much.
Love your content in general. This review was particularly good.
Thank you! I’m glad you dug it
I watched this because I knew it'd be good (the review) and I was not disappointed.
Lol thanks man
I liked it. 7.5/10 for me.
@Johnny Austin ?
This is all M Night's fault, isn't it?
"We should make a movie like Get Out. Because as we all know, the best part of Get Out was THE TWIST!!!!!??!?!?!!?!?!"
Jordan Peele himself owes more to M. Night than people are willing to admit but this movie specifically feels like trying to recreate what made Get Out work without understanding WHY it worked at all.
Oof whose idea was this
Apparently a couple of guys who don't know what the hell they're doing lol
This movie was weird.
That's one way to put it, yes lol
I truly hate this review.
Sorry to hear that. But I’m guessing it’s because you really liked the movie, in which case, I’m glad you enjoyed it more than me.