A 2020
Historical Fiction Antebellum America piece. Shields "Emperor" Green (
Dayo Okeniyi) is an educated slave who goes on the run after killing a white overseer for abusing his son. Shields finds himself becoming a symbol for the African-American community, which leads to him accompanying the abolitionist John Brown on a risky raid meant to spark a slave revolt.
MC Gainey,
Mykelti Williamson,
James Cromwell, and
Bruce Dern also appear.
Tropes:
- Affably Evil: Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee is unfailing polite to Brown during their negotiations, offers Brown a chance to surrender without further violence, pats one of his soldiers on the back out of appreciation for a shot the soldier made, and says that as a soldier, it isn't his place to decide if slavery is right or wrong (which his future real-life actions contradict). However, he isn't really a
Designated Villain either, as he kills Brown's companions without remorse and sounds like he agrees with Thomas Jefferson when saying that he heard the former president didn't view African-Americans as real people. - Bank Robbery: Shields hides in a wagon to escape from slave catchers only to discover it's the home and getaway vehicle of Rufus Kelly, who has just robbed a bank and is being chased by the local lawmen.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Truesdale seems like a kind-hearted Good Samaritan who is awed by Shields' heroism and wants to give him shelter for selfless reasons. However, he shows some smarminess and forcefulness when he makes his reluctant wife agree to hide Shields, and then it turns out he's planning to betray Shields for the bounty on his head.
- Bounty Hunter: Luke McCabe hunts down anyone with a price on their head, whether they're white outlaws or escaped slaves. His first scene shows him lassoing an unnamed man who's running through a field, then shooting him while he's down and getting into a gunfight with the man's brothers when they try to take his body back. He's next seen negotiating a fee to kill Shields and crush the Living Legend surrounding him.
- Chekhov's Gun: The bank robbery loot ends up being used to buy Tommy Green's freedom.
- Divided We Fall:
- Ruthless Bounty Hunter Luke McCabe gets into a standoff with two men over the body of his latest bounty, but regains the advantage because his would-be ambushers get distracted debating whether to give the body a proper burial or turn it in for the reward themselves.
- Abolitionist leaders John Brown and Frederick Douglas can't agree on whether they should attack an armory to trigger a slave rebellion or merely help more slaves flee to non-slave states. Douglas disapproves of Brown's willingness to risk the lives of his men and sons and feels that as a white man, Brown isn't in as much danger and can't appreciate the risks. Brown feels drastic action is necessary even if it means being Inspirational Martyrs, goes ahead without Douglas, and fails (although his pro-slavery enemies only get a Pyrrhic Victory, as The American Civil War isn't far away).
- Equal-Opportunity Evil: Downplayed. The villains are all prejudiced against African-Americans, but a meeting of the most powerful and ruthless plantation owners in the region has one woman attending and being taken seriously by her peers, over half a century before women could even vote.
- Face–Heel Turn: Downplayed. A preacher gives Shields refuge and treats his wounds despite how he's obviously one of John Brown's men, but he does acknowledge that Shields in hiding in the church when McCabe and Grady show up and offer him a choice between part of the reward or getting killed if he resists them. Since they already know Shields is hiding there, the preacher's acquiesce doesn't mean too much and may not be too wholehearted, but he doesn't make a Heroic Sacrifice rather than aid the slave catchers either.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: Shields is horrified when his wife is shot during his escape, but afterward, she's forgotten about entirely outside of a brief nightmare Shields has.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Shields and the slave in the swamp sneak past the slave catchers inside a hollow log that they push across the river like it's floating.
- How We Got Here: The film begins with the raid on Harper's Ferry, prominently featuring Shields, then cuts back to months earlier, when Shields was still a slave.
- Jumped at the Call: Heroic and villainous versions appear.
- Shields volunteers for John Brown's near-suicidal raid on Harper's Ferry within hours, if not minutes, of meeting Brown and hearing his plan.
- McCabe and Grady encounter several farmers going to help the Army put down the raid on Harper's Ferry.
- Lives in a Van: A Western version. When a Posse shoots up bank robber Rufus Kelly's wagon, he complains that they're ruining his house.
- Living Legend: Shields becomes hated and feared by pro-slavers and respected by slaves and anti-slavery guerrillas as a result of his actions on the run.
- Lovable Rogue: Rufus Little is proud of being a bank robber and doesn't hesitate to shoot Posse members who pursue him. However, he's also quite friendly and one of the few non-racist white men in the movie. He's surprised to find Shields hiding in his getaway wagon, but he doesn't really mind, works with Shields to try to escape, and later thanks Shields for not just stealing the wagon, telling him to take half of the money if Rufus survives his wounds and all of it if he doesn't.
- Made of Iron: Rufus wrestles with a pursuer and kicks him out of the wagon while suffering from an Agonizing Stomach Wound.
- Papa Wolf: When Shields sees whip scars on his son's back, he beats the white overseer (a lynching offense in the time period), then shoots him and one of his men after a fight.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Plantation owner Randolph Stevens is a pitiless and venal man who has Shields whipped just to Make an Example of Them. However, he's only cruel when it won't cost him any money. After Shields escapes and becomes a symbol for the slave community and another slave owner suggests killing Shields' son to punish Shields, Stevens says "I've already lost one slave. I'm not destroying any more of my property." Later, after being offered four times a slave's value, he sells the boy to someone who plans to free him.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Lt. Colonel Lee and his men put down John Brown's Rebellion, Shields flees on horseback rather than join the other remaining raiders in a doomed effort to fall back to the catacombs.
- Sympathetic Slave Owner: Mostly averted, but Shields' first owner, Duvane Henderson, comes across as a flawed Upper-Class Twit, but one who is far more humane than his peers. He appreciates and listens to Shields' comments about the running of the plantation when Shields' new owner whips him for not acting subservient enough later in the movie, and Duvane' actions seem to go beyond Pragmatic Villainy. He respectfully tips his hat to Shields as he and his family leave their former home. He also lets Shields' son Tommy take books to read and listen to Duvane's children's nursery stories. Once Randolph wins Duvane's plantation in a card game, things rapidly go downhill for the slaves.
- Tongue Trauma: The first person to help Shields is a slave who had his tongue cut out because of how talkative he was.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Shields Green, John Brown, and the raid on Harper's Ferry are all real, but Green's backstory is completely made up, Brown's raid kills more soldiers than in real life, and Green's survival and escape are fictional. This gets a Hand Wave In-Universe, with Green's son commenting the Civil War histories have all been written by white men who have a vested interest in inaccurate versions of what happened and that this is the story as his father told it to him.
- Villain Has a Point: Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee is a ruthless racist who has no qualms about putting down Brown's abolitionist rebellion, but he does validly point out that Thomas Jefferson, the man who wrote "All men are created equal", was a slave owner who probably wasn't thinking of ''everyone's'' rights.
