Emancipation: release date, cast, storyline, trailer release, and everything you need to know.

A runaway slave headed for Baton Rouge, Louisiana in the 1860s, after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation to end slavery in secessionist Confederate states, survives the swamps while being pursued by slave catchers and their dogs. Antoine Fuqua, William N. Collage, and Will Smith co-produce the 2022 American historical action thriller film Emancipation. Charmaine Bingwa plays an oppressed mother and wife, and Ben Foster plays a vicious slave hunter.

Gordon, also known as “Whipped Peter,” was a self-emancipated slave whose life forms the basis for the movie. The image of a man’s naked back being severely scourged by an overseer’s whippings, which was widely disseminated as magazine pictures in 1863 and provided the abolitionist cause with evidence of the brutality of slavery, is what made that story famous. In 2018, producer Joey McFarland commissioned Collage to develop the screenplay after starting research on the tale.

The official announcement of the film’s director, Fuqua, and actor, Smith, came in June 2020. The movie was filmed in Louisiana in July and August of 2021. Apple outbid several other studios and paid US$130 million to own the film’s rights.

On October 1, 2022, it was screened in Washington, D.C.; on December 2, 2022, it was released in a few theaters; on December 9, Apple TV+ streamed it. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Smith’s performance, but criticized the screenplay and its handling of real-life events.

Release Date

On October 1, 2022, Emancipation was screened at the 51st Annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in Washington, D.C. Smith and Fuqua attended to lead a Q&A session after the film. The film was premiered on October 24, 2022, in Los Angeles. December 2, 2022, saw the film’s theatrical debut. On December 9, Apple TV+ began streaming the movie.

Although Smith was originally attached to the project in 2020, principal photography began in the summer of 2021, and the film’s release was postponed until a tentative date of 2023 due to the controversy surrounding Smith’s alleged slap of Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards in March 2022. Additional factors cited in the May 2022 announcement included production delays and an overbooked film release schedule from Apple. Then, it was shifted to the last day.

 Plot

Peter is shown sitting on the floor of a house, knelt before his wife Dodienne, with their children seated around him, in a cotton farm in 1863. Peter fights the men until one of them places a gun at his wife’s head, but suddenly, a bunch of white men come at the doorway and whisk him out of the house. After that, Peter receives a blow to the back of his skull, is placed in a cage behind a carriage, and is removed from his family and brought to a new location. He yells at his spouse and kids to keep together because he will return.

He witnesses the skulls of slain slaves hanging on poles and slaves laboring by the side of the road while traveling. After that, Peter gets assigned to work in Clinton, Louisiana, helping to build a railroad.

White guards and Fassel, the slave owner, mistreat the slaves. When they try to flee, they are dragged and branded by horses, whipped, attacked by dogs, and shot if they give up from exhaustion. Peter encourages the discouraged slaves to simply pray and have faith in God.

One day, Peter decides he has had enough and, with the help of other slaves, seizes the opportunity to fight back against the white masters. They flee and are pursued by the white men with the ferocious dogs and horses.

Fearful of alligators, one slave is unable to swim across a river and is captured. He is let free and tries to cross the river after telling Fassel where the other slaves are, but he gets shot and is eventually consumed by the gators. The three men who are still standing divide up and head in different directions. Despite several near-misses with discovery, Peter somehow avoids being discovered by his captors. Fassel catches up to Peter as he approaches Baton Rouge and is ready to shoot him when a black 1st Louisiana Native Guard soldier shoots Peter in the neck.

To recuperate, Peter is brought to a hospital. Then, a photo of his back is taken, which he swears will be displayed globally to promote the abolition of slavery. To help his family get free, Peter then makes the decision to enlist in the army. He returns to several cotton plantations to free the slaves after winning a battle against Confederate soldiers, and he also gets to see Dodienne and their kids again. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation is credited in the epilogue with the release of over 4 million slaves by 1865.

Cast

Peter played by Will Smith
Ben Foster in the role of slave hunter Fassel
As Peter’s wife Dodienne, Charmaine Bingwa
Britton Webb as Bijoux, a white plantation worker assisting Trapp; Austin Alexander as Trapp, a white plantation worker whom Peter bites; and Jayson Warner Smith as John Lyons, the owner of a cotton plantation
In the film, Jesse C. Boyd plays white plantation worker Mike Hurley, who puts a gun to Dodienne’s head. Steven Ogg plays Confederate soldier Howard, an ordnance sergeant who watches over slaves at the railroad camp.
Gordon, a slave buddy of Peter’s who escapes the railroad camp and travels independently to the Union Army in Baton Rouge, is portrayed by Gilbert Owuor.
As John, the branded slave who is dubious of Peter’s escape from the railroad camp but fails to reach freedom, Michael Luwoye plays the role.
Tomas, a slave buddy of Peter’s who escapes the railroad camp but is shot by Fassel in a river, is played by Jabbar Lewis.
Ron Moten as Knowls, the former slave who assists Fassel and Harrington in apprehending escaped slaves—whom Peter refers to as “the worst kind”—and Ronnie Gene Blevins as Harrington, Fassel’s white helper in the slave trade.
Jeremy Friedlander plays Peter’s son Scipion, played by Imani Pullum, and Jordyn McIntosh plays Peter’s younger daughter Laurette. Little Peter Mustafa Shakir as Captain André Cailloux of the First Louisiana Native Guard in the Union Army, played by Landon Chase Dubois
Major G. Halstead, played by Paul Ben-Victor, introduces Peter to the Union Army.
As General William Dwight, David Denman

When Is Emancipation Coming Out?

A few organizations have seen the movie, including Power Rising, the National Council of Negro Women, the National Coalition for Black Civic Participation, the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and the Congressional Black Caucus. On December 2, 2022, the movie will have a limited theatrical release. A week later, on December 9, 2022, it will be available on Apple TV+. The movie opens on this date, right in the middle of awards season.

What Is Emancipation About?

The true narrative of Peter (Smith), a slave who escapes his farm in quest of his family, serves as the basis for the film Emancipation. He outwits heartless hunters as he makes his way across the Louisiana swamp. Later, when Peter enlists in the Union Army, his bare back—which bears scars from a near-fatal whipping—is discovered during his medical examination. The Independent published a picture of his back under the caption “the scourged back.” The graphic showed the brutality of slavery in the US.

Will Smith discussed his ideas on the movie’s plot:

“I have turned down a lot of movies that were, like, based in slavery over my career. I never intended to portray us in that way, but then this image appeared; it is not a movie about slavery. This movie is about liberation. This movie is about tenacity. This is a movie about faith, as you know. It is a movie about a man’s heart, or perhaps the first image to become viral.

The core of the narrative is that image, which has a deep emotional connection for Smith. He continued, saying:

“I wanted to be able to present this story to you in a way that only [director] Antoine Fuqua could deliver. It was a story that exploded and blossomed in my heart.”

Watch the Emancipation Trailer 

The movie King Richard, which chronicled the life of tennis players Venus and Serena Williams’ father Richard, starred Smith before. Smith received his first Oscar through King Richard. Will the reception to his next film be the same? Look no further if you have not seen the Emancipation trailer! This is how we initially see the forthcoming movie.

Since then, Emancipation’s entire trailer has also been made available. This teaser film chronicles Peter’s extraordinary quest to gain his freedom. Peter bids them farewell at the start of the video before being dragged violently to a different plantation. He cries that he will return to them while being carried away. A few of the horrifying torments that Peter must endure before he can keep that pledge are mentioned in passing in the video. Like the teaser, the trailer seems like an artistically presented video that is eerie while maintaining the appearance of the original photos. The back scars on Peter are visible when the trailer ends with a view of him seated with his back to the camera. The shot is clearly inspired by the photograph titled “The Scourged Back”, one of the most famous Civil War-era photographs that helped contribute to the growing anti-slavery sentiment. Through the trailer, beaten but not broken, Peter stands and shows no weakness. You can watch the three-minute video below.