Fuqua and Collage had the opportunity to give the man from the famous picture a voice. To show who Peter might have been as a person, and not only display the suffering he experienced. And it slipped through their grasp.

| Jul 21, 2024

[A]s an action, [Emancipation is] not half-bad... But looking at it in the context of a somehow burgeoning field of slave narratives, the lack of nuance feels not only lazy but exploitative.

| Oct 16, 2023

Emancipation strives to be the strong surprise of the year but doesn’t fully come together. Smith? Excellent might even be his best performance! Powerful imagery, great cinematography, but a one note story that I found to lack depth

| Jul 25, 2023

The hollow Emancipation is a mismatch between director and subject.

| Mar 16, 2023

Its release was overshadowed by that Oscars slap , and that’s a shame. Those who fixated on the buzz rather than on the film missed out on a terrific and engaging bit of cinema that is arguably Fuqua’s most fully realized film since “Training Day.”

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 15, 2023

This visually stunning film from director Antoine Fuqua suffers from a weak script, poor characterization, and an overly earnest approach to the subject matter. For something so important, a sense of substance seems in short supply.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 11, 2023

There aren’t enough films depicting runaway slaves fighting off Southern racists on the way to freedom. So when that premise is wasted on a terrible movie, as it is in Will Smith’s Emancipation, it’s a great tragedy.

| Jan 6, 2023

Will Smith is persona non grata in Hollywood because he attacked Chris Rock at the Academy Awards earlier this year. Does that have anything to do with this movie? No. This is a good movie and Will Smith gives a fine performance in it.

| Original Score: B | Jan 5, 2023

Will Smith gives Whipped Peter dignity in Emancipation in a flick focusing more on freedom from captivity mentally, physically and emotionally.

| Jan 1, 2023

This inspired-by-fact yarn is especially noteworthy for its borderline brilliant visual sense.

| Original Score: B | Dec 29, 2022

Director Antoine Fuqua provides Smith with an extremely physical and emotional role, the kind Oscar has salivated over in the past. However, Fuqua’s lack of a handle on pacing and artistic framing submarines Emancipation.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Dec 28, 2022

If this were an obstacle course, Smith would win hands down. But as an attempt to affectingly depict the horrors of slavery, it falters.

| Original Score: C | Dec 28, 2022

An emotionally hollow film about a man’s flight from slavery that's exploitative in the most unpleasant way.

| Dec 24, 2022

Antoine Fuqua has made a striking looking, feverishly taut survival thriller that occasionally delivers a grisly adrenaline rush similar to The Revenant or Apocalypto.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 21, 2022

This is a solidly decent film made with a brutally honest grimness, with strong performances and a highly stylised approach from Fuqua.

| Dec 20, 2022

Emancipation is a different type of historical slave movie but not different enough to really stand out and be interesting.

| Original Score: C | Dec 20, 2022

While the facts of the story and bold filmmaking style lend narrative weight, it strangely tips the film in the direction of Grand Guignol horror.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 19, 2022

More than a piece of history, shot in black and white, this film works as a thriller, which is also Fuqua's forte.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 19, 2022

This drama has good intentions in wanting to portray the realities of slavery, but those intentions are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of graphic violence.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 17, 2022

Compelling and often horrific...

| Dec 16, 2022