12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave is about a New Yorker named Solomon, who was kidnapped and dragged all the way down to New Orleans and forced to work as a slave for a plantation. We follow Solomon through his journey and suffering. 

In this movie the actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, does an incredible job of showing passion through his character. His constant struggle and relentless attitude brings his character, Solomon, to live; as we follow his journey. His acting is brilliant through the torture of being drugged, shackled in a basement, and waking up a slave. This film brings in strong emotions as we see Solomon pleading, saying that he is a free man from New York with his family. We then watch as Solomon is beaten and beaten by his new owners.

I feel although some people who watch this movie cannot entirely relate to a black man becoming a slave. Most can relate to his normal citizen life in New York, and are able to picture the pain of being ripped away from your life and forced to live a life in cruelty.

Yet, we see relief when Solomon meets a Canadian carpenter who helps plan an escape for Solomon. This is when the movie takes a turn, and that we see there is some hope to the character we have been following and invested with the whole movie. This is the part where the audience will sit on the edge of their seats, awaiting to see an escape, if possible, for the main character; and potentially the other slaves.

Overall, 12 Years a Slave is an excellent film that appeals to emotion, and sympathy as we watch the character who grows on us be tortured, and skimmed away of his citizenship with a  blink of an eye. The acting enhances the movie even more, and I would highly recommend this movie to anyone.