Emancipation Review

Last Updated on December 13, 2022

PLOT: Peter (Will Smith) is an enslaved person forced to toil at a brutal Confederate Army Labor Camp. When he overhears that Abraham Lincoln has freed the slaves, he escapes the camp, bent on making his way to Lincoln’s army. However, he must not only navigate the treacherous Louisiana swamps but also evade a slave catcher (Ben Foster) who relentlessly pursues him.

REVIEW: It’s a shame that Emancipation will only be seen via streaming, as director Antoine Fuqua made a big-budget epic that was clearly shot for the big screen and can only truly be appreciated if viewed in theatres. Apple has done the film no favours by only giving it a small theatrical run, and many will dismiss a movie that, no doubt, would be a much more immersive experience if viewed the way it was intended.

While generating a lot of comparisons to Twelve Years a Slave, Fuqua’s movie is more contained, with most of the film chronicling Peter’s flight from slave catchers are he tries to make his way to the Union army. The character is a fictionalized version of “Whipped Peter,” who famously escaped slavery. Abolitionists used photos of his grotesquely whipped back to illustrate the cruelty of slavery.

In Emancipation, Peter is a blacksmith who’s taken from his wife (Charmaine Bingwa) and children to serve the Confederate Army. His ordeal at their labor camp is nightmarish, with the heads of runaway slaves mounted on pikes to warn-off anyone who considers escaping. The main slave catcher is Ben Foster’s Fassel, who’s introduced by dragging a runaway back to the camp and branding his face with an R. Once Peter escapes, Fassel is in pursuit.

Fuqua’s known for his action films, and Emancipation emphasizes the story’s survival/ action aspect, with Peter being resourceful and able to survive violent encounters with alligators and more. Fuqua and DP Robert Richardson shoot the film in a unique way, with them draining the film of much of its color. It almost looks like a black-and-white film, but this stylistic choice is another reason why the big screen would have been a more natural home for Emancipation, as the effect isn’t as stark on an HDTV via streaming. There’s a lot of interesting imagery here, including a notable scene of a horse on fire fleeing a massacre and one upsetting moment where a little girl alerts Fassel’s slave catchers once she gets a glimpse of Peter.

For his part, Smith throws himself into the role, with him notably emaciated in a way that can’t be faked. While his personal baggage remains the elephant in the room following the now-infamous Oscar slap, Smith is as good as ever here. Had this come out a year ago, it no doubt would have gotten a more robust release.

Ben Foster is also excellent as Fassel. While despicable, there are some shades of gray, with him recounting a story at one point to his fellow slave catchers about a time when he was young, when he befriended an enslaved person on his plantation. As a result, his father murdered the woman right in front of him. He’s been bred to hate, but at least, compared to others in the film, he respects Peter’s ingenuity.

There are also some scenes depicting Peter’s family, with his wife immediately being forced into another marriage, with self-mutilation her only means of escape. Otherwise, Fuqua focuses on Peter and his escape through the swamps. In that vein, Emancipation is more of a genre piece than its being sold as. While Emancipation perhaps won’t be a major awards contender, it’s a solidly crafted thriller. However, it can’t be denied that the movie’s epic scope is shortchanged when streamed. Considering all of the resources Apple, Smith and Fuqua poured into it, one wishes it was given more of a chance in theaters. On streaming, it may end up being ignored, which is a shame as it’s a notable entry into everyone’s filmography.

Emancipation

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