Release date: Friday, September 18
Cast: Janelle Monáe, Eric Lange, Jena Malone, Jack Huston, Kiersey Clemons, Gabourey Sidibe, Marque Richardson
Director: Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz
Run-time: 1h 46 min
Age rating: R
Rotten Tomatoes: 36%
It's time to watch Antebellum online, streaming on VOD. The new movie starring Janelle Monáe uses horror conventions to illustrate racism in America, much like Get Out and the current HBO series Lovecraft Country. And it's streaming now.
In Antebellum, a woman named Eden (Monáe) works as a slave on a Civil War-era plantation, where she suffers continual assaults by a Confederate officer (Eric Lange). Eden tries escape, unsuccessfully, again and again.
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There's another aspect to the movie, which we won't spoil, but what we can say is that Antebellum seeks to make a point about the enduring (and unchanging) nature of racism in America.
The movie features a strong cast in addition to Monáe and Lange, including Gabourey Sidibe, Kiersey Clemons, Jena Malone and Jack Huston. Antebellum is the directorial debut of Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz.
Here's everything you need to know about how to watch Antebellum online right now. Plus, check out the trailer below:
How to watch Antebellum with a VPN
If you're stuck abroad — away from countries where Antebellum is available on video on demand — you will likely run into geo-fenced restrictions on the platforms and services you can use. But with the help of a virtual private network (VPN), you can watch Antebellum and all the other services you already pay for no matter where you are.
Based on our testing, the best VPN is ExpressVPN, which is easy to use and delivers fast internet speeds, making it simple to set up for streaming in no time at all. It also works on practically any device, starting with iOS and Android and including streaming devices such as the Amazon Fire TV Stick and Apple TV. Plus, game consoles like PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
How to watch Antebellum on streaming
Antebellum is streaming now on VOD after its release today, Friday, September 18.
If you want to watch the movie on VOD, you have a number of options among the major digital content marketplaces.
Other streaming sites:
Antebellum reviews
The reviews of Antebellum are mixed to negative. Here's a roundup of what critics are saying:
Vulture: "Antebellum ends up being a noxious tour of historic violence against Black folks in service of a story that has nothing novel to say about the obliterating function of whiteness and anti-Black racism. Lacking a strong point of view to grant interiority to its characters, its approach to horror and social commentary becomes deadened."
The New York Times: "In the wake of Get Out, there is still plenty of scariness and satire to be extracted from the toxic matter of American racism, and there is great potential in a movie that connects the microaggressions of the present with the brutality of the past. Antebellum is emphatically not that movie ... it lines up moments of possible insight and impact and messes up just about all of them."
Rolling Stone: "The movie isn’t without its climactic satisfaction: It offers black audiences the escape hatch of reciprocal violence that revenge narratives deploy as a rule. But even this gets marred a little when the complex pleasure of vengeance is doled out in a conclusory overdose of beauteous empowerment imagery."
Washington Post: "... even Monáe’s magnetism can't elevate “Antebellum” above roots that are firmly planted in the blood and soil of pulp exploitation, shaky liberal earnestness and rank opportunism."
