Antebellum

Gerard Bush got the idea from a nightmare he once had. He initially thought it would make a good basis for a short story, but later turned it into a feature film screenplay together with co-director Christopher Renz.

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In the film's first act, soldiers begin saying the words "Blood and Soil," a phrase used by the 2017 Charlottesville protesters. The phrase is a nationalist slogan expressing an ideal of a racially defined national body (represented by "blood") united with a settlement area (represented by "soil"). This small detail signals that the plantation where Veronica is trapped is not real and that everything is taking place in the present day.

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The film's title is ultimately revealed to be the name of the Civil War reenactment park where kidnapped Black people are forced to work as slaves for white people. "Antebellum" is a Latin term and generally describes a period leading up to war, but more commonly refers to the time before the American Civil War (pre-1861) and especially to the era of slavery. The park's name is therefore taken literally by its owners: they are not only reenacting the period, they are actively reviving pre-Civil War society, restoring their right to mistreat and own Black people as slaves.

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Directors Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz stated that they actually obtained the lenses used on Gone with the Wind (1939) to create the same feel as that film, but also to use them to show a more accurate depiction of the antebellum period, particularly the treatment of slaves.

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If you look closely at the hotel scenes, especially on a rewatch, you will see that most of the guests are participants from the fake plantation where Veronica is held captive. For example, the doorman at the hotel is also in the park's dining room with Elizabeth. Members of the reenactment park are also among those listening to Veronica's talk and in the restaurant. This shows that they were watching her closely the entire time.

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"Him" is almost never referred to by his real name, Blake Denton, in the film. On the plantation, slaves are forcibly given new names, and Veronica reclaims his name shortly before killing him and escaping. The character is meant to be so despicable that he does not deserve to be named in the narrative.

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This is Janelle Monáe's first leading role in a feature film.

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The fact that some scenes in the trailer were altered with CGI purely for promotional purposes became a source of criticism among critics and viewers. The scene in the trailer in which Veronica is teleported to the farm after being kidnapped does not actually happen; in the film, Veronica is simply standing in the field. The glitch effect that occurs as the plane flies over the plantation does not happen in the film; instead, the plane flies normally. The scene in the hallway where Veronica sees her young daughter with a ghost effect, implying that she is a spirit, does not turn out that way in the final cut. The girl is not actually a ghost but a normal person.

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Julia has a butterfly tattoo on her ankle. This is not only another clue that the plantation is not real, but also carries symbolism: "The butterfly tattoo represented Kiersey Clemons's character Julia being a disciple, a believer, a follower of the doctrine of Veronica Henley's coping persona. So when she says, 'I know you. You're the one who can get us out of here. Why are you acting like this?' it's because she knows her," said Gerard Bush. The butterfly motif continues throughout the film, including the image on the cover of Veronica's book, a butterfly representing change or metamorphosis.

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Although the marketing implied otherwise, Jordan Peele had no direct involvement with this film. The producer in question is Sean McKittrick, who produced Get Out (2017) and Us (2019).

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The lipstick image that is not explained in the film was intended as a metaphor for the relationship between white and Black women: "The reason we put it in the film, and I want to say this in the most diplomatic way possible, is that we wanted to show how there is a certain fraction or brand of white women who envy the Black woman, who want to be her and have what she has and owns," he said.

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The film's twist, in which Veronica and the other "slaves" discover that the plantation is not actually real but a fake reenactment taking place in the present day run by white Confederate enthusiasts, strongly recalls M. Night Shyamalan's The Village (2004), in which the characters discover that the 19th-century village they live in is actually fake and that the film takes place in the present day. The surprises in both films were criticized by viewers.

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This is the first feature-length directorial effort for both Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz. Since they had previously directed many short films and music videos, it is also their 11th joint cinema project.

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While giving a talk about her latest book, Veronica is actually laying out the clues for how to escape the fake plantation: "In her talk about her book, Veronica unknowingly creates the roadmap for how to actually escape Antebellum. She says their arrogance is their greatest weakness and they don't pay attention to it. Right? So she's actually giving you, the viewer, a roadmap of when and how she builds her strategy. You think she's being silent," said Gerard Bush.

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The little blonde girl (played by Arabella Landrum) is Elizabeth's daughter. When we first see her in the present day in the film, she is wearing a white, pale dress that suggests she is a ghost. The implication here is that Elizabeth is raising her to be just as racist and white supremacist as she is, as if the antebellum South still existed. The girl also holds a racist toy, a rag doll resembling the mammy stereotype.

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Antebellum's worldwide release dates were postponed because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The film went straight to release in the US and opened in theaters in countries where cinemas had reopened.

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At the 39th minute of the film, it is revealed that Janelle Monáe's character's birth name is Veronica Henley. The other characters in the plantation scenes refer to her character as Eden.

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In the breakfast scene, Veronica tells her daughter that when she looks up at the sky and sees that big plane, she will know it is her mother coming home. This foreshadows the ending, in which Vagabon's song "Home Soon" plays as Veronica finally escapes and passes the Antebellum sign, followed by an overhead shot depicting a plane flying over her. Metaphorically, she is finally coming home.

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The statue that kills Elizabeth when she is dragged by a loop on Veronica's horse and strikes her head on it is a carving of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

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While Veronica is on a Skype call with Elizabeth, her husband asks what she wants for breakfast and she answers vegan pancakes. Janelle Monáe is herself a vegan in real life.

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Before the General arrives, the flag raised on the pole was a rectangular Navy flag. The army's Battle Flag is square. Also, the Battle Flag was to be used during an actual battle; otherwise an individual unit would have a unique flag showing its Regiment name and Battle Honors.

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Beyond the obvious reference to Antebellum (the pre-American Civil War way of life), the film contains other hidden historical references. Dr. Henley stays at a hotel in the Jefferson Suite. Thomas Jefferson owned more than 600 slaves over his lifetime. Dr. Henley's daughter is named Kennedi. John F. Kennedy proposed a comprehensive Civil Rights Act in 1963 and advocated racial equality.

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The lipstick of Veronica's that Elizabeth uses is from the Pat McGrath Labs brand in the shade Vendetta.

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