While Michael Fassbender’s Edwin Epps is a terrifying villain, the film wisely broadens its scope to show that slavery was a systemic infection, not merely the result of a few "bad apples."
We see "kind" masters (Benedict Cumberbatch’s William Ford) who are financially complicit. We see the psychological damage inflicted upon the white characters, who twist religion to justify their cruelty. The film portrays slavery as a machine that dehumanizes everyone it touches, though it destroys the enslaved with far greater efficiency. 12 years a slave -film-
12 Years a Slave (2013) is a historical drama directed by Steve McQueen, adapted from the 1853 memoir by Solomon Northup. It tells the true story of Northup, a free Black man from Saratoga Springs, New York, who in 1841 was kidnapped, sold into slavery in the American South, and held for 12 years before regaining his freedom. While Michael Fassbender’s Edwin Epps is a terrifying
The cast of this film reads like a masterclass in acting. 12 Years a Slave (2013) is a historical
Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup: In a just world, Ejiofor’s performance would be a permanent exhibit in the Museum of Modern Art. He plays Solomon with a quiet, vibrating intelligence. Watch his eyes—they are always calculating, observing the terrain, waiting for a way out. Yet when he breaks, he breaks completely. The scene where he whispers "I don't want to survive. I want to live" is the thesis of the film.
Michael Fassbender as Edwin Epps: Fassbender creates a villain for the ages. Epps is not a cartoon monster; he is a bible-thumping, alcoholic psychopath who genuinely believes he is righteous. His whipping of Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o) is one of the most difficult scenes in cinema history because Fassbender plays it as both sexual frustration and religious fervor.
Lupita Nyong’o as Patsey: In her film debut, Nyong’o won an Oscar for a reason. Patsey is the soul of the plantation—a young woman so physically abused and so skilled at cotton picking that she becomes a target of jealousy. Her monologue asking Solomon to end her life is devastating.