september14–27, 2020| newyork 75heated coverage despite being about
nothing in particular. The Blumhouse
production centers on people who’ve been
kidnapped to be tracked and killed for
sport, and it became a big story after news
leaked that the chosen prey are referred
tobya characteronscreenas“deplora-
bles.”Thatrichliberalsarethevillains
didn’t matter—TheHuntwasthefocusof
a furiousright-wingmediacycleand
somepresidentialtweets,allfora film
thatultimatelyshrugsanddeclaresboth
sidesoftheaislebad.Itsgesturestoward
pertinenceamounttoset dressing—liter-
ally,inthecaseofthephotoofa character
carryinga tikitorchat a march.Whenthe
filmfinallycametotheatersinthespring,
itsstudiotriedtocapitalizeonthescandal
withthetagline“Themost talkedabout
movieoftheyearis onethatnoone’s actu-
allyseen.”Lockdowncutitspromotional
cy cleshort beforeanyonecouldassess
whetheritseffortstotreat allattentionas
goodattentionworkedout.
Antebellum’s desiretosay something
abouthowwelivenowbecomesclearonly
afteritstwistis revealedsome 40 minutes
in.There’snoway todiscussthefilm
withoutspoilingit—therevelationdou-
blesasthepremise,whichisthatthe
plantationonwhichMonáe’scharacter,
Veronica,isbeingheldisonethat exists
notduringtheCivilWarera butinthe
presentday. Veronicaisanauthorand
high-profileacademicwhogivestalkson
intersectionality and arguesoncable
news,andshe’s becometheprizetraffick-
ingvictimtakenbya groupofcosplaying
whitesupremacistswholike topretend
the1860sneverended.Thatthesereen-
actorshavemanagedtokeepa sizable
groupofcaptivessecretand,apparently,
complacentisa factthat theaudienceis
justmeanttoaccept.Thefilmkeepsthe
workingsofitsevilorganizationasvague
as possible, which would be less madden-
ing if it didn’t invite the audience to con-
stantly wonder how it functions.
Antebellum sees itself as being in con-
versation with Gone With the Wind, even
using some of the same camera lenses. But
whileit clearlywantstointerrogatethe
rolethat 1939 moviehasplayedinthe
romanticizationoftheantebellumSouth,
it neverfiguresouthowtodoit beyond
givingeverythingthesheenofa perfume
ad.Asa condemnationofunreckoned-
withhistory, it shedsnolightonthepsy-
chology ofitsracistvillains,formlesscar-toons who waver between seeming
incrediblywellconnectedandbumblingly
ridiculous.As anexplorationofthehor-
rorsofslavery, it’s a grotesquemisfire—the
contrivancesofitspresent-day setting,
andthefilm’s inexorablefocusonrape,
endupinadvertentlyportrayingthemon-
strousinstitutionasthoughit werea sum-
mercampforincels.EvenifAntebellum
weren’t part ofa longlineoffeaturesdedi-
catedtothishistoricalatrocity,it’s never
evidentwhat thedirectorsfeelthey’re
bringingtothesubjectmatterthat other
filmshavefailedto.
Antebellumisn’t “thenextGetOut,”
thoughit clearlywouldliketobringJor-
danPeele’s hittomind.Butit’s anindirect
testamenttohowgoodGetOutisandhow deftly it weaves together bitingsocial
commentary and genre structures.In
comparison, these recent filmslingerin
the vicinity of subjects like racismand
political divides without actuallymaking
any points about them. They feel
meaning-adjacent,ormaybejust like
productsforanage ofsocialmediathat
hasmadeheadlinesmoreimportantthan
thearticlesattachedtothem.Filmisn’t a
limbermedium,anditisn’t themost
innatelyresponsiveofformats,notwith
thetimeit takesfora featuretobewrit-
ten,funded,shot,andassembled.Andyet
weoftenwantit tobe,outofa desireto
lenda senseofurgency towhat we’re
watching,developingmoreandmoreof
a tendency—asmoviegoersandaspeople
whocovermovies—toprojecttimeliness
ontothingsthatmighthavebeenscripted
yearsago.It’switha certainamountof
serendipity, for...instance,thatAntebel-
lumarrivesalongsiderenewedconversa-
tionsaboutGoneWiththeWind.
CriticismofGWTW’s whitewashingof
slavery stretchesbacktoitsinception,but
inJune,afterit turneduponthenewly
launchedHBOMax,JohnRidley wrotean
op-edintheL.A.Times.He requestedthe
filmbetakendownuntilit couldbegiven
somekindofcontext.Thestreamingser-
viceacceded,addinga videoprologuefea-
tu ringTCMhost JacquelineStewart.She
talksaboutthefilm’s incrediblepopular-
ity,itslonghistoryofbeingprotested,
howitsBlackcastmemberswereunable
toat tendthepremiere,andthecompli-
catednatureofitsplaceinmoviehistory.
AsresponsestoGWTWgo,it wasmore
prosaicthanthest ylizedwholeofAnte-
bellumbutalsoa lotmorepreciseinits
observations.It didn’t starttheconversa-
tion,butit addedtoit—somethingthat’s
alwaysgoingtobeeasierwhenyouactu-
allyhavesomethingtosay. ■the hunt
Liberal elites
kidnap and kill
alt-right Americans
for sport.Antebellum
isn’t “the next
Get Out,” though
it clearly would
like to bring Peele’s
hit to mind.