MOVIE INFO VIA ROTTEN TOMATOES:
After a Union soldier flees from battle, rescue comes unexpectedly from a free black man operating a section of the Underground Railroad. But when a ruthless and desperate slave catcher discovers the secret network, he conspires to bring it burning to the ground.
REVIEW:
Sometimes, a movie will get shelved for some unintended political controversy. In Freedom’s Path, a Civil War movie that was filmed in 2019 and scheduled to be released in 2021or 2022, it was a conversation between a deserting Yankee soldier- William (Gerran Howell) and a runaway slave friend- Kitch (RJ Cyler) that mentioned the main cause of the war as being preservation of the Union and not slavery, and to add insult to injury, that the slaves benefitted greatly from being enslaved. If it sounds like an anti-woke comment made by Ron de Santis and Nikki Haley you would be correct. The irrefutable retort the slave makes is to strip off his shirt and angrily show his cat o’nine tails scars and retell his horrifying story.
Outside of this one major flub, which caused Freedom’s Path to get unceremoniously dumped to Paramount Plus, the film itself is an engrossing, gut wrenching, brutal, unflinchingly honest drama about slavery, friendship and the courage of those who risked death to run the Underground Railroad. Sure, it dips into melodrama and some racial black and white stereotypes that support its thematic agenda but the friendship is honest, well rounded and entirely sincere and believable. Yes, it uses the black and white trope originated by the Tony Curtis and Sydney Poitier melodrama The Defiant Ones, about two fugitives on the run overcoming their racial animosity to avoid being captured and becoming friends, but here it feels like it’s the archetype and not just another iteration of the mismatched buddy cop formula. There are also plenty of soulful good black characters and many evil Southerner stereotypes. The excellent acting makes it feel original.
The dialogue is often raw and profane. The N-word is used liberally by Northeners and Southerners. Negro is just uttered more by the Yankees to give some semblance of racial awareness and counterbalance. Both sides still see the negro as inferior. The Civil War hasn’t enlightened them of any long held prejudices. Until the plot makes it very real and horrifying, slavery just exists as an abstract concept. It’s old school walk a mile in my shoes enlightenment that works.
Ewen Bremner who plays Silas, the evil Southern bounty hunter is excellent in the way he makes the pernicious resemble original evil. He’s the embodiment of Simon Legree from Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Silas is determined to enforce his version of racial superiority and servitude. He inflicts barbarism without qualms. In this small bit of the world he is God. He shows how the slavery industry doesn’t see its valuable commodity beyond the inhumanity routinely inflected on a donkey or ox or other chattel. To Silas,the deserter William is a traitor to his race. He’s Freedom’s Path most frightening historical article.
Still it’s the white soldier who relates the story. The harshness isn’t softened by the film’s lyric style which strives for a poignancy that gets wounded in the valiant attempt. Freedom’s Path remains decent and somewhat moving but never truly devastating. And it’s a good twenty minutes too long.
Freedom’s Path gets a 3.5/5 or a B+. It’s streaming on Paramount Plus.
CREDITS:
Directed by
Brett Smith
Screenplay by
Brett Smith
Produced by
- AJ Winslow
- Jim Pidgeon
- Neko Sparks
- Steven Swadling
- Brett Smith
- Manish Majithia
Starring
Production
companies
- Rocket Soul Studios
- 1812 Films
- Soulidifly Productions
- Rock Hill Studios
- Room In The Sky Films
- Chicago Media Angels
Distributed by
Release dates
- April 15, 2022(Cinequest)
- July 2, Cinequest(3)
- United States
Running time
131 minutes[1]
Country
United States
Language
English
Leave a Reply