Movies

'Antebellum' Clip: "Things Are Not Always What They Appear To Be"

Antebellum clip
By Ben Pearson/

Ever since Antebellum came out of nowhere and surprised us with its first trailer in November, we've been eager to find out what exactly is happening in this mysterious new horror film. Now that we're just under a month away from its newly-slated VOD release, Lionsgate is ramping up the movie's marketing campaign with a new clip which seems to serve as a meta-commentary about the film's mysterious premise.

Antebellum Clip

"Things are not always what they appear to be" could have been a tagline for this movie (OK, admittedly not a particularly inspired one, but still). But while this clip depicts a relatively run-of-the-mill instance of a cable news dunk session (against a man who, if the chyron description of him is accurate, likely holds some pretty despicable views about Black people), the trailers for the movie paint a much more beguiling picture of the story being told here.

Janelle Monáe (Moonlight, Hidden Figures) plays Veronica Henley, a doctor and author of a best-selling book called "Shedding the Coping Persona." She seems to be in a loving marriage to a man played by Dear White People actor Marque Richardson II (who is excellent in that show, by the way), they have a cute little daughter, and everything seems to be going just fine. That is, until a bunch of creepy white people tell Veronica that she's been chosen for...something.

The trailers wisely keep us in the dark about what exactly is going on, but it seems as if Veronica is jumping through time, almost like Desmond in that season 3 episode of Lost. Do they give Veronica a powerful hallucinogen that makes her think she's back in the antebellum South? Is she actually there? I have no idea, but I'm thrilled that we'll be able to find out soon, and it's clear that the movie is playing with the idea that our nation's past is still visible in its present.

Gerard Bush and Christoper Renz (Bush+Renz) are the writer/directors making their feature directorial debut, after directing music videos and short films like this one:

Monáe and Richardson are joined by Eric Lange, Jack Huston, Kiersey Clemons, Tongayi Chirisa, Gabourey Sidibe, Rob Aramayo, Lily Cowles, and Jena Malone in the cast.

Antebellum, which was originally going to hit theaters in April before the coronavirus pandemic caused the film to be delayed, arrives on premium on demand platforms starting September 18, 2020.

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