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Emancipation was a highly anticipated film that released in select theaters across the U.S. on December 2, 2022. It is now set to premiere on the premium streaming service, Apple TV+, on December 9, 2022.
The Will Smith starrer has already attracted quite the attention, mainly for featuring Smith after his debacle at the Academy Awards. Interestingly, many people believe that his performance in Emancipation will earn him another Oscar nomination and a shot in the Best Actor category.
Emancipation is a historical thriller directed by Antoine Fuqua. The film primarily treads on the topics of the extent of American slavery, the Civil War era, and the desperate fight of a black man to gain his and his family's freedom. The film is interlaced with breathtaking monochromatic tableaus and impeccable camera work, with a strong and impactful performance from Will Smith.
Although feedback for the film from critics has been mixed, general reviews have marked it as something to look out for. This comes right after Smith won his first Academy Award for Best Actor in his role as Richard Williams in King Richard (2021). Hence Smith's performance in Emancipation is something that film enthusiasts should definitely look forward to.
This article looks at some additional titles that are similar to the upcoming Apple TV+ historical drama Emancipation.
Django Unchained, 12 Years a Slave, and more - 5 movies like Will Smith's Emancipation
1) Django Unchained
Django Unchained is a revisionist Western film from the house of Columbia Pictures. A brainchild of Quentin Tarantino, the film was a stylized tribute to the 1966 Spaghetti Western, Django by Sergio Corbucci.
The film featured some prominent actors like Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington, Walton Goggins among others. It received critical acclaim for its direction, screenplay, and performance from the cast.
Set in 1858 Texas, Django Unchained tells the story of Django, a black slave who tries to reunite with his wife, Broomhilda. Django is rescued by German bounty hunter, Dr. King Schultz, who helps him take down the Brittle brothers. They then devise a plan to free Broomhilda from her current owner, Calvin J. Candie. This sets them on a destructive path, resulting in numerous deaths, and ultimately leading them to their freedom.
Django Unchained portrays an inhumane yet true picture of how slaves were treated like commodities in the past. Just like Emancipation, the protagonist of the film also has to fight tooth and nail to gain his freedom and reunite with his loved one.
2) 12 Years a Slave
12 Years a Slave is a biographical drama film from Fox Searchlight Pictures that released in 2013. The film was directed by Steve McQueen and based on a screenplay by John Ridley. Ridley's screenplay in turn was based on the slave memoir by Solomon Northup, the protagonist of the film, Twelve Years a Slave.
The film starred Chiwetel Ejiofor in the lead role alongside Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Lupita Nyong'o, Paul Dano, Brad Pitt, Sarah Paulson, and others.
12 Years a Slave follows Solomon Northup, a violinist from New York, who gets kidnapped and is sold off as a slave in New Orleans. He changes his name to Platt and adapts to the life of a slave to safeguard his life. Although he serves a benevolent owner at first, he soon finds himself working for the cruel plantation owner, Epps. After years working as a slave, Northup finally gets his much-awaited freedom when Canadian worker, Samuel Bass, helps him.
Similar to Emancipation, 12 Years a Slave also follows a black man in his long and arduous journey of gaining the freedom he deserves. Both films also explore the inhuman treatment slaves were subjected to in the bygone era.
3) Glory
Glory is a 1989 historical war drama from the house of Tri-Star Pictures. Directed by Edward Zwick, the screenplay for the film was inspired from multiple resources including the novels Lay this Laurel (1973) by Lincoln Kirstein, One Gallant Rush (1965) by Peter Burchard, and personal letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw of the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The film featured Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Andre Braugher, and Cary Elwes in pivotal roles.
Glory tells the story of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, an African-American regiment during the American Civil War. Led by Robert Gould Shaw, the regiment was comprised of volunteer black soldiers and had an impactful role in the battle against the Confederates on Fort Wagner on Morris Island. The film touches on various social aspects from the time like pay discrimination, racist biases for their supplies, and the general discord against black soldiers.
Like Emancipation, Glory tells the truth of how African-Americans were treated back in the day. It also talks about how the collective effort of the 54th Regiment warranted changes for the black community during the American Civil War.
4) Lincoln
Lincoln is a 2012 biographical historical drama from the house of 20th Century Fox. Directed by prominent filmmaker Steven Spielberg, the film stars acclaimed actor Sir Daniel Day-Lewis in the titular character alongside other notable actors like Sally Field, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, David Strathairn, Adam Driver, Tommy Lee Jones, Hal Holbrook, and others.
The screenplay for the film was inspired from the 2005 biography by Doris Kearns Goodwin's called Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln follows the last four months of President Abraham Lincoln's life when he was trying to abolish involuntary servitude and slavery during the American Civil War. From January- April 1865, Lincoln tried to pass the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which ultimately played a pivotal role in changing the lives of black people in America.
The film received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences and became a commercial success, earning over $275 million worldwide. Lincoln also received numerous prestigious awards and nominations for the performance by the cast and direction by Spielberg.
Lincoln depicts the war for the abolishment of slavery in America. Emancipation also deals with the same topic and follows Gordon - a black man whose scarred back played a huge role in that very fight.
5) Amistad
Amistad is another historical drama by the well-known filmmaker Steven Spielberg. The film was released in 1997 and received extremely positive reviews from critics for depicting a socially relevant story with sincerity and sensitivity.
The title starred a plethora of well-known actors like Djimon Hounsou, Morgan Freeman, Matthew McConaughey, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Anna Paquin, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and others.
The film's screenplay was based on historical materials provided by the Amistad Research Centre and chronicled one of the most crucial court cases for black people on American soil. When the Spanish ship, La Amistad, transporting black slaves, gets taken over by the revolting slaves, they find themselves in American waters where they are arrested. The African slaves then take their case for the freedom to an American court, setting off a legal battle on a global scale.
Amistad tells a story of a desperate fight that a group of black people put up to prove their freedom and wrongful enslavement. Similar to Emancipation, they finally earn their freedom after a painful arduous ordeal.
These are some of the titles that deal with the topic of black slavery in old America and the truth about how they were treated, which is a major point in the upcoming Will Smith film, Emancipation. They serve as a kind of reminder of the community's cruelty and inhumane treatment.
Emancipation releases on Apple TV+ on December 9, 2022.
