12 Years a Slave fingerprintHigh energy, strong craft, no humor.
Nerve-racking and violent
Deeply moving and melancholic
Much of it is about family.
Serious throughout
History, a real life story, and society
Lived-in and easy to get lost in.
Standout direction, performances, and characters
Standout cinematography and editing
Nerve-racking and violent
12 Years a Slave is nerve-racking and violent.
Deeply moving and melancholic
Much of it is about family.
Emotionally, it's deeply moving, melancholic, and cathartic. Much of it is about family.
Serious throughout
Expect almost no humor.
History, a real life story, and society
Lived-in and easy to get lost in.
Its world is built around history, a real life story, and society. The setting feels lived-in and easy to get lost in.
Standout direction, performances, and characters
The direction, performances, and characters stand out.
Standout cinematography and editing
Look and sound: the cinematography and editing stand out.
Based on the GoodWatch fingerprint: our scores for 70+ attributes of every movie. Select a row to see all of them.
The extraordinary true story of Solomon Northup.
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12 Years a Slave2013
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Quick answers from GoodWatch data.
12 Years a Slave is included with a subscription to fuboTV and Paramount+ in the United States. You can also rent or buy it from Apple TV, Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, and Google Play Movies. All links in Where to Watch go to these licensed services.
Yes. It's widely acclaimed, with a GoodWatch score of 89/100 (IMDb 8.1, Rotten Tomatoes 95%, and Metacritic 96). The GoodWatch score combines critic and audience ratings.
It's rated R in the United States. Content advisories: violence, strong language, and disturbing imagery.
2 h 14 min
12 Years a Slave runs 2 h 14 min.
Yes. It's based on real events or a real person's life.
Not quite. Critics rate 12 Years a Slave higher (96) than audiences (84). It may be more rewarding than it is crowd-pleasing.
Yes, a big one. It cost about $20 million to make and earned $187 million worldwide, 9.3 times its budget.
It was made in English. Produced in United Kingdom, United States.
+57GoodWatch finds legal streaming, rental, or purchase options for 12 Years a Slave in 71 countries. Pick any of them in Where to Watch to see the local services.
TV Tropes lists 104 storytelling tropes for 12 Years a Slave, including Evil Is Hammy, Deep South, Bait the Dog.
8.1
