12 Years a Slave

Solomon Northup is a free Black man in 1841 New York who is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Deep South. Over twelve years he endures plantation life under both a relatively humane owner and the sadistic Edwin Epps while waiting for a chance to reclaim his freedom. Steve McQueen’s film refuses to sanitize American chattel slavery — it is an act of moral witness that demands to be experienced and Chiwetel Ejiofor’s quietly devastating performance is one of the finest of the decade.