Metacritic Movie Ratings
12 Years a Slave Reviews

A sample of reviews from critics across the country.

• 100

  out of 100

  VarietyPeter Debruge

  Though the film brims with memorable characters, the show ultimately belongs to Ejiofor, who upholds the character’s dignity throughout.

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• 100

  out of 100

  USA TodayClaudia Puig

  The harrowing 12 Years a Slave is a mesmerizing period drama for the ages.

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• 100

  out of 100

  TimeRichard Corliss

  A document that is raw, eloquent, horrifying and essential.

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• 100

  out of 100

  The New YorkerDavid Denby

  12 Years a Slave is easily the greatest feature film ever made about American slavery.

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• 100

  out of 100

  Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips

  While this is very much a McQueen picture, with visual flourishes and motifs unmistakably his, the historical urgency and staggering injustice of the events keep McQueen and company utterly honest in their approach and in their collective act of imagining Solomon Northup's odyssey to hell and back.

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• 100

  out of 100

  Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern

  Movie audiences have never been presented with anything quite like the intertwined beauty and savagery of 12 Years a Slave.

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• 90

  out of 100

  The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthy

  Perhaps the nature of the story is such that the film can’t help but be obvious and quite melodramatic at times, but it gets better as it goes along and builds to a moving finish.

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