Synopsis
Nat Turner, a former slave in America, leads a liberation movement in 1831 to free African-Americans in Virginia that results in a violent retaliation from whites.
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Cast
- Nate ParkerNat Turner
- Armie HammerSamuel Turner
- Aja Naomi KingCherry
- Jackie Earle HaleyRaymond Cobb
- Penelope Ann MillerElizabeth Turner
- Gabrielle UnionEsther
- Mark Boone JuniorReverend Zalthall
- Aunjanue Ellis-TaylorNancy Turner
- Dwight HenryIsaac Turner
- Esther ScottBridget Turner
Recommendations
- 91
Consequence
The Birth of a Nation is one of the most confident writing and directorial debuts in recent memory. - 91
Hitfix
This film puts Nat Turner and his moral journey dead center, and it asks you to take an unflinching look at how an inhuman system broke the human beings trapped in it. - 90
New York Magazine (Vulture)
It's a beautiful, reflective film even as it is also a brutal, visceral one. - 83
The Playlist
In script and performance, the film is an articulate howl of anguish and rage given depth by a discerning comprehension of the ways various communities can rely on faith for very different means. - 80
Variety
A biographical drama steeped equally in grace and horror, it builds to a brutal finale that will stir deep emotion and inevitable unease. But the film is perhaps even more accomplished as a theological provocation, one that grapples fearlessly with the intense spiritual convictions that drove Turner to do what he had previously considered unthinkable. - 75
The Film Stage
What’s lacking in aesthetic cohesion, pacing, and subtlety is made up for in a powerful lead performance and an essential story with compelling religious undercurrents. - 75
IndieWire
As cinema, it's alternately engaging and overly blunt. But there's no denying its efficacy as a major celebratory gesture. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
The film offers up more than enough in terms of intelligence, insight, historical research and religious nuance as to not at all be considered a missed opportunity.
