Episode 40: 12 YEARS A SLAVE

The subject of this week's podcast episode is Steve McQueen's harrowing depiction of slavery in the American antebellum South. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Solomon Northrop, a free man from Pennsylvania who gets kidnapped and sold into slavery. Based on an actual slave narrative, the film also stars Lupita Nyong'o, Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Fassbender.

It ranks at number 30 on our Best Picture Countdown.*

Spoiler Alert: We talk about the movie in its entirety, so if you haven't yet seen it, check it out. Or not. That ball is in your court.

*What is this list?

We explain it in more detail in our Trailer and its Description, but as a high-level answer: we aggregated several different lists that rank the ninety-four winners of the Best Picture Academy Award in a rough attempt to get a consensus. It is not intended to be rigorous or definitive. It's just a framework to guide our journey through cinema history.