12 Years a Slave

The extraordinary true story of Solomon Northup

Set in the 1850's in America, and based on a true story, this film has won high praise in spite of having some scenes that are ''difficult to watch''. A free black man agrees to join a travelling show, but is instead abducted, stripped of his identity, and sold into slavery. The next twelve years are extremely harrowing for him and his fellow slaves, as he seeks a way to regain his freedom without getting killed in the process.

134 minutes.
No persons under 18 (Violence, Prejudice).
Biographical, Drama, Period piece, On the art circuit

Showtimes

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Credits

Cast	Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti, Sarah Paulson
Director	Steve McQueen
Screenplay	John Ridley, from the book by Solomon Northup
Music	Hans Zimmer
Cinematography	Sean Bobbitt
Editing	Joe Walker
Sound formats	Dolby
Soundtrack	Available
Made in	2013
Produced by	Regency Enterprises, River Road Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Pictures, Film4

Official Site | IMDB page | FPB Report | ScreenIt Report | CommonSenseMedia Report
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Film and Publications Board (FPB) Report (SA)

Genre	Biography
Language	Moderate impact
Nudity	Full frontal both male and female, non-sexual context, brief
Sex	Moderate to strong, implied, infrequent
Violence	Frequent, very strong, physical, psychological, intense, realistic, prolonged, graphic, gory
Prejudice	Frequent, very strong scenes of racism and discrimination against black people
Blasphemy	None
Drug abuse	Some alcohol use (in context)
Comments	Complex and mature and very strong impact.
These details are supplied by the FPB. If you have a problem with any of the above, please take it up directly with the FPB. Read the Classification Guidelines.

ScreenIt Report (USA)

Sex / Nudity	Violence	Blood / Gore / Gross
Guns / Weapons	Profanity	Alcohol / Drugs
Smoking	Disrespectful / Bad Attitude	Imitative Behaviour
Frightening / Tense Scenes	Jump Scenes	Tense Family Scenes
Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Topics to talk about

CommonSenseMedia Report (USA)

Suggested age limit 14 +	Positive messages	Positive role models
Violence	Sex	Language
Consumerism	Drinking, drugs, smoking

Ratings

Scale (Max)	20
What the Critics say
Cape Argus / The Star Ann Hornaday Unflinching look at humanity	15
Die Burger Riëtte Grobler Realisme tref soos vuishou in die maag	15
Cape Times Todd McCarthy Finding freedom	15
ScreenIt C. Fuchs This should be one of the top Oscar contenders of the year. Just be prepared for moments that will likely be seared into your mind and soul for some time. 12 Years a Slave comes off somewhat like Schindler's List in that its excellent but you might not ever want to watch it again.	16
Metacritic.com 48 critics	19
Rottentomatoes critics 238 critics	18
Rottentomatoes tomatometer Tomatometer It's far from comfortable viewing, but 12 Years a Slave's unflinchingly brutal look at American slavery is also brilliant -- and quite possibly essential -- cinema.	19
Movie Review Query Engine MRQE critics	18
CommonSenseMedia Staff evaluation	15
What the People say
Internet 40981 Netizens Abducted to a Southern hell	17
Average .. 84%	17