History YMMV / TwelveYearsASlave

** Every moment of the scene where [[spoiler:Epps punishes Patsey. Solomon is forced by Epps to whip her, and he's clearly disturbed at the thought of harming his friend, yet does so anyway. Eventually, Epps gets impatient and threatens to kill him if he doesn't whip harder, [[SadisticChoice so he tries to whip her as hard as he can]], but Epps eventually runs out of patience and whips Patsey in the most sadistic manner possible. The next scene has Patsey crying from the pain covering her [[{{Squick}} bloody, scarred back]], while Solomon breaks his violin out of guilt. It becomes even more tear-jerking when you realise that the violin was a gift from William Ford ([[TokenGoodTeammate the only white who who treated him well so far]]) and he had carved his family's names on the violin as mentioned earlier, meaning that [[DespairEventHorizon Solomon's hope was destroyed alongside the violin]].]]

* HarsherInHindsight: Paetsy getting raped is even worse when one considers that the actress playing her was violated by Harvey Weinstein, and that the career that propelled her into a Hollywood star would also make her come into contact with him.

* HarsherInHindsight: Paetsy getting raped is even worse when one considers that the actress playing her was violated by Harvey Winestein, and that the career that propelled her into a Hollywood star would also make her come into contact with him.

** Every moment of the scene where [[spoiler:Epps punishes Patsey. Solomon is forced by Epps to whip her, and he's clearly disturbed at the thought of harming his friend, yet does so anyway. Eventually, Epps gets impatient and threatens to kill him if he doesn't whip harder, [[SadisticChoice so he tries to whip her as hard as he can]], but Epps eventually runs out of patience and whips Patsey in the most sadistic manner possible. The next scene has Patsey crying from the pain covering her [[{{Squick} bloody, scarred back]], while Solomon breaks his violin out of guilt. It becomes even more tear-jerking when you realise that the violin was a gift from William Ford ([[TokenGoodTeammate the only white who who treated him well so far]]) and he had carved his family's names on the violin as mentioned earlier, meaning that [[DespairEventHorizon Solomon's hope was destroyed alongside the violin]].]]

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The film pulls absolutely no punches in showing just how horrific a practice slavery was but, much like ''Film/SchindlersList'', it's a story where anything less would have been a disservice.
* TearJerker: The scene when Eliza is separated from her children. It's heart wrenching to hear her scream for her children and to hear her children cry out for her.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: Music/HansZimmer outdoes himself again. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIqodUJ-UfM trailer alone]] makes haunting use of his score from Film/TheThinRedLine.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The film pulls absolutely no punches in showing just how horrific a practice slavery was but, much like ''Film/SchindlersList, it's a story where anything less would have been a disservice.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped:
** The "slavery is bad" moral may seem like an obvious one, but remember that the original memoir was written in a world where slavery was still a cornerstone of the American economy, and going strong. The 2013 film's writers and producer want to shake the audience's sensibilities, and [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory our perception of slavery in the modern era.]]
** Also note that the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Cause_of_the_Confederacy Lost Cause of the Confederacy]] myth still has great traction in parts of American society. If this film stops people romanticizing a racist nation built on white supremacy and the systematic dehumanization and exploitation of others, then that will certainly qualify it as an anvil needing dropped.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The slaves coming across the group of Native Americans. It's never brought up again, nor a part of the story. The point was made however: two groups hindered and pained by the same one. No words needed utterance. Their faces said it all.

* TearJerker:
** The scene when Eliza is separated from her children. It's heart wrenching to hear her scream for her children and to hear her children cry out for her.

* HarsherInHindsights: Paetsy getting raped is even worse when one considers that the actress playing her was violated by Harvey Winestein, and that the career that propelled her into a Hollywood star would also make her come into contact with him.

* CompleteMonster: Edwin Epps is a chilling, living example of the utter horrors of slavery and all that it entails. Epps runs his plantation with an iron fist and any slave who picks less than 200 pounds of cotton a day are [[ATasteOfTheLash given the lash]]. Succeeding is no guarantee of safety, as Epps is liable to fly into violent furies when he's drunk, or [[ForTheEvulz just because he wants to hurt someone.]] Epps forces the slaves out of needed sleep to force them to dance for his amusement in a parody of a Gentleman's Ball and focuses especially on a beautiful slave named Patsey who he calls his Queen Of The Field for her talent with cotton-picking. Epps repeatedly rapes her, saying he can do what he wants with his property. He also flies into jealous furies over Patsey and later in the film forces [[TheProtagonist Solomon Northup]] to whip her by holding a gun to Solomon's head. Losing patience, Epps simply takes the whip from Solomon and lashes into Patsey until her back is cut to bloody shreds. And when Solomon is revealed to be a free man, he can only think of the ''[[ItsAllAboutMe monetary loss]]'' this means to him.

* CompleteMonster: Edwin Epps is a chilling, living example of the utter horrors of slavery and all that it entails. Epps runs his plantation with an iron fist and any slave who picks less than 200 pounds of cotton a day are [[ATasteOfTheLash given the lash]]. Succeeding is no guarantee of safety, as Epps is liable to fly into violent furies when he's drunk, or [[ForTheEvulz just because he wants to hurt someone.]] Epps forces the slaves out of needed sleep to force them to dance for his amusement in a parody of a Gentleman's Ball and focuses especially on a beautiful slave named Patsey who he calls his Queen Of The Field for her talent with cotton-picking. Epps repeatedly rapes her, saying he can do what he wants with his property. He also flies into jealous furies over Patsey and later in the film forces TheHero Solomon to whip her by holding a gun to Solomon's head. Losing patience, Epps simply takes the whip from Solomon and lashes into Patsey until her back is cut to bloody shreds. And when Solomon is revealed to be a free man, he can only think of the ''[[ItsAllAboutMe monetary loss]]'' this means to him.

* NeutralEvil: Edwin Epps tries to use Literature/TheBible to justify his behavior, while raping his underage "favorite" slave, and attempting to get in the way when legal authorities free Solomon Northrup.

* HilariousInHindsight: Both Creator/ChiwetelEjiofor (Solomon) and Creator/BenedictCumberbatch (Mister Ford) have played in roles where they were married to Creator/KeiraKnightley's character (Chiewetel in ''Film/LoveActually'' and Benedict in ''Film/TheImitationGame).''

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The slaves coming across the group of Native Americans. It's never brought up again, never a part of the story.
** The point was made. Two groups hindered and pained by the same one. No words needed utterance. Their faces said it all.

** When Eliza is separated from her children. It's heart wrenching to hear her scream for her children and to hear her children cry out for her.

* AwardSnub: Despite winning the majority of the awards from the critics' circle and the Screen Actors' Guild, Lupita Nyong'o lost a Golden Globe and a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress to Creator/JenniferLawrence for her performance in ''Film/AmericanHustle''. It doesn't help that there was a rivalry between the fans of the two actresses on who wins at the Oscars. Averted, later on, when Lupita won the Oscar, but Chiwetel Ejiofor did not win for his.

** Hans Zimmer's Score was also expected to reap a nomination, but ended up getting left off (made all the more notable because he was eligible for ''Rush'', too).

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: Hans Zimmer outdoes himself again. The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIqodUJ-UfM trailer alone]] makes haunting use of his score from Film/TheThinRedLine.
* HilariousInHindsight: Both Chiwetel Ejiofor (Solomon) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Mister Ford) have played in roles where they were married to Creator/KeiraKnightley's character (Chiewetel in ''Film/LoveActually'' and Benedict in ''Film/TheImitationGame).''

** Also note that the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Cause_of_the_Confederacy Lost Cause of the Confederacy]] myth still has great traction in parts of American society. If this film stops people romanticizing a racist nation built on white supremacy, then that will certainly qualify it as an anvil needing dropped.

* NightmareFuel / ParanoiaFuel:
** The idea that in one night, your identity could be taken away from you, and every time you try to profess who you are, you either aren't believed or you put your life in danger.
** Whippings. If you didn't think ATasteOfTheLash was that scary, ''you will.''
** The Epps. One's a bible-thumping rapist, the other is a psychotic {{Yandere}}. Both constantly seem thirty seconds away from killing one of their slaves.
*** Read the CompleteMonster entry above. Now, let it sink in that this man was an actual human being who was even ''more'' horrible in RealLife.
* OneSceneWonder: Alfre Woodard is in the film for perhaps two whole minutes, but manages to provide a novel's worth of commentary on the nuances of surviving an oppressive system by embracing it. She is a black woman and technically a slave owner, after all.

** The two also appear together in ''Film/DoctorStrange'', where Ejiofor's character is a mentor to Cumberbatch's, a far cry from their roles in this film.

** Also note that the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Cause_of_the_Confederacy Lost Cause of the Confederacy]] myth still has great traction in parts of American society. If this film stops people romanticizing a racist nation built on white supremacy, then that will certainly qualify it as a anvil needing dropped.

* PragmaticVillainy: {{Subverted}} as the slave owners had no qualms about beating their workforce half to death or even hanging them, despite their value. In the 1850s a good field slave usually sold for $1000 (about $30,000 in 2014 currency), [[http://acadianahistorical.org/items/show/49 while Epps bought Solomon (as "Platt") for $1500]]. For a rather poor DeepSouth farmer, this was a small fortune. It would have been expected they might treat their slaves better, if only to get them more productive in the fields.

** The two also appear together in ''Film/DoctorStrange'', where Ejiofor's character is a mentor to Cumberbatch's, a fry cry from their roles in this film.