Michael Fassbender, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Brad Pitt star in the first 12 Years a Slave trailer

Brad Sturdivant July 15th, 2013

Michael Fassbender in 12 Years A Slave trailer

DJANGO UNCHAINED may have ruined slavery based movies for everyone, but director Steve McQueen (SHAME) is hoping people don’t forget how dramatic and emotional a true story can be. The first trailer for the Oscar hopeful, 12 YEARS A SLAVE has arrived and it’s tough to get too much out of this trailer. Much like the case with SHAME, I think 12 YEARS A SLAVE is a film that’s going to rely heavily on its performances and the directing of McQueen. Check out the first trailer below and see if this has a legitimate shot at getting some Oscar glory.

12 YEARS A SLAVE stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Garret Dillahunt, Paul Giamatti, Scoot McNairy, Lupita Nyong’o, Adepero Oduye, Sarah Paulson, Michael Kenneth Williams and Alfre Woodard. The Steve McQueen directed film hits theaters in a limited release on October 18th.

12 YEARS A SLAVE official synopsis: Based on a true story, 12 YEARS A SLAVE is a riveting account of a free black man kidnapped from New York and sold into brutal slavery in mid-1850s Louisiana, and the inspiring story of his desperate struggle to return home to his family. SOLOMON NORTHUP (Chiwtel Ejiofor), an educated black man with a gift for music, lives with his wife and children in Saratoga, New York. One day, when his family is out of town, he is approached by two men claiming to be circus promoters. Solomon agrees to travel with them briefly, playing the fiddle while they perform. But after sharing a drink with the men, he awakens to find he has been drugged and bound and faces a horrifying reality: he is being shipped to the South as a slave.

For years, Solomon nurtures his dreams of returning home. He stashes slips of stolen paper in his fiddle and develops a natural ink with which to write a letter. But when his greatest efforts come to nothing, he realizes just how trapped he is. Refusing to abandon hope, Solomon watches helplessly as those around him succumb to violence, crushing emotional abuse and hopelessness. He realizes that he will have to take incredible risks, and depend on the most unlikely people, if he is ever to regain his freedom and be reunited with his family.