12 Years a Slave

Inspired by real-life events, 12 YEARS A SLAVE is punishing and demoralizing to watch, so committed is director Steve McQueen to tell this story unwaveringly. You will leave the theater reminded of the wretched brutality that men and women have been, and still are, capable of, and it will leave you untethered. But a must-see it is. McQueen, for the most part, exerts restraint where a lesser director may have belabored the endeavor with overstuffed frames, waves of music, and speechifying, most of which he avoids here. Casting Ejiofor was a stroke of brilliance. He is magnetic, embodying the character so fully we believe in his resolve not to founder, and suffer when he does. Fassbender is Ejiofor's counterpart as the frightening Epps, and he's just as watchable, if not as sublime. His rendering is a little less nuanced, but compelling nonetheless.

12 Years a Slave goes slack as it marches toward the end, sputtering when it should crescendo. The ending, truthful as it may be, feels anti-climactic and rushed, more intellectually satisfying than emotionally fulfilling. But weeks after, the film will still sit with you, its impact weighty.