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Director Steve McQueen (Hunger, Shame) brings to life the true-life story of Solomon Northup, a free black man from New York who is kidnapped and sold into Southern slavery. Northup endures two different owners and many harrowing experiences before attempting to reach out for help from his friends in the North. McQueen succeeds in making very palpable the fear and danger that comes in merely confessing the truth or just writing a letter — two things that could see you hang as much as they could see you saved. This tale of survival is headlined by Chiwetel Ejiofor as Northup, with Michael Fassbender and Benedict Cumberbatch playing plantation owners, and Adepero Oduye and Lupita Nyong’o as two slave women Northup tries to help. Nyong’o received the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Patsey, the object of her master’s unwanted sexual aggression, and later the recipient of all his fury. Paul Giamatti, Paul Dano, Alfre Woodard, and Brad Pitt round out the notable cast. Sean Bobbit’s cinematography is beautiful, but without giving too much of a romantic notion to the time period. Hans Zimmer is suitably restrained in his occasionally percussive, often minimalist score.

The dialogue is flowery now and then, and the main objective almost disappears behind the horror a few times (perhaps that is the point), but 12 Years a Slave succeeds in painting believable picture of a true American experience that needs never to be forgotten. Like World War II and the Holocaust, American slavery is a topic so sprawling and tragic, that we will never reach the bottom of the well when it comes to stories that need to be told and heard. The best of them, and I’ll include this one among them, stick with you.

Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress (Nyong’o)

Oscar Nominations: Best Actor (Ejiofor), Best Supporting Actor (Fassbender), Best Director, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Film Editing