ANTEBELLUM

DIRECTOR(S) Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz STARRING Janelle Monáe, Eric Lange, Jena Malone, Jack Huston, Kiersey Clemons, Gabourey Sidibe ETA 24 April

Sharing producers with Get Out and Us, Antebellum looks to have plenty of DNA in common with Jordan Peele’s hits. For starters, there’s the secrecyshrouded premise. The striking poster art: in Antebellum’s case, featuring a butterfly trickling blood down a wall. The arresting teaser trailer: featuring indelible imagery with a big side order of mystery. Then there’s the exploration of historical and contemporary racism in the US. Yep, this film is going to be a big talking point.

The logline has it that “successful author Veronica Henley (Monáe) finds herself trapped in a horrifying reality and must uncover the mindbending mystery before it’s too late,” and what we’ve seen so far suggests that Veronica is trapped in the pre-abolition American South as a slave on a cotton farm, with memories of her modern life filtering in. (The Latin ‘antebellum’ literally translates as pre-war, and is most frequently used to refer to the pre-Civil War south).

Alongside the acting/singing/producing multihypenate Monáe, the cast also includes Kiersey Clemons (Dope) and Gabourey Sidibe (Precious). Short film writer/director duo Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz (aka Bush|Renz) make their directorial debut, with Bush promising “a wild ride”: “so you best buckle in…”MM