15 best movies about slavery on Netflix you should watch today -One of the darkest moments in human history has continued to be slavery. Even though it happened in the past, its effects on people and civilizations still persist. Many films, books, and other works of art have addressed the horrific and terrible issue. Netflix’s selection of slavery-related films offers a lot to viewers while not being particularly exciting to watch.

The tenacity, bravery, and inhumanity that slaves must overcome are depicted in Netflix’s documentaries about slavery. They come in handy for inspiring and movingly bringing grim stories to life. Movies are a great place to start if you want to understand more about one of history’s most heinous periods.

15 best movies about slavery on Netflix you should watch right now

Films about civil rights, segregation, and slavery are always popular. These are mainly those who are interested in these subjects or who want to learn more. According to The Correct Blogger, these are the top 15 Netflix films about slavery:

1. The Help (2011)

IMDb rating: 8.1/10 | Runtime: 2h 26m

The setting of The Help is Mississippi in the 1960s. It centres on the bold but unyielding Skeeter, who returns from school with the goal of becoming a writer.

She speaks with black women who devote their lives to serving illustrious Southern families. Due to these women’s horrifying confessions, the entire village is flipped upside down.

2. 12 Years a Slave (2013)

IMDb rating: 8.1/10 | Runtime: 2h 14m

One of the best Netflix series on slavery is 12 Years a Slave. It centres on Solomon, a free black man who ends himself in slavery.

He faces numerous challenges because he is not accustomed to slavery. He meets a Canadian in his 12th year, and that encounter transforms his life and inspires him to fight for freedom.

3. Django Unchained (2012)

IMDb rating: 8.4/10 | Runtime: 2h 45m

The movie shows slavery in the United States beautifully despite the fact that it is about a free guy. King Schultz, a bounty hunter, asks Django, a slave, for assistance. Following the assistance, they become into close friends who work together to free Django’s wife from slavery.

4. Beloved (1998)

IMDb rating: 6.0/10 | Runtime: 2h 52m

One of the best Netflix documentaries about slavery is Beloved. Sethe, a former slave, is striving for liberty, primarily in order to free her kids.

She battles her tumultuous history and is plagued by her painfully buried secrets. Fortunately, a mystery young woman and her old acquaintance Paul D volunteer to assist her.

5. The Long Walk Home (1990)

IMDb rating: 7.3/10 | Runtime: 1h 37m

Amazing abolitionist film The Long Walk Home recreates the mid-1950s events. It takes place in Alabama, where African-Americans boycotted public transportation because they got sick of always having to sit in the back.

Odessa decides to walk to work in support of her fellow black people despite when her employers treat her well, even if it means arriving late.

6. Selma (2014)

IMDb rating: 7.5/10 | Runtime: 2h 8m

One of the best films about actual slavery that you should watch is Selma. It is based on one of the pivotal moments in the history of the post-slavery era and the civil rights movement.

Three stories—Martin Luther’s fight for equal voting rights, the Selma–Montgomery March, and President Johnson’s signing of the 1965 Voting Rights Acts—tell the story of slavery.

7. Glory (1989)

IMDb rating: 7.8/10 | Runtime: 2h 2m

Glory tells the Civil War saga of Colonel Robert, an officer in the Federal Army. Despite being a white man, he offered to command black soldiers.

He has a lot of difficulties in his line of work. He must contend with the animosity of his adversaries, who have been given orders to assassinate commanding commanders.

8. Harriet (2019)

IMDb rating: 6.7/10 | Runtime: 2h 5m

The remarkable life of one of the most well-known and recognisable freedom fighters, Harriet Tubman, is the subject of the film. Her bravery, persistence, determination, and stubbornness helped to set hundreds of slaves free.

She altered the course of history and rose to become one of America’s greatest heroes.

9. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013)

IMDb rating: 7.1/10 | Runtime: 2h 21m

One of the best films about black slavery is Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. The movie provides details of Nelson Mandela and his friends’ protests and life sentences for treason.

He fought for his people for many years while still incarcerated and while in chains. After being freed, he was compelled to come up with a strategy for pacifying the country without tarnishing its citizens.

10. 13th (2016)

IMDb rating: 8.2/10 | Runtime: 1h 40m

You should see 13th, one of the best documentaries about slavery. It discusses the increase in incarcerations from 200,000 in the 1970s to over two million now.

Additionally, it highlights the problems with racial inequality as well as other key historical occurrences and events related to it. The civil rights struggle and the war on drugs are two examples.

11. I Am Not Your Negro (2016)

IMDb rating: 7.9/10 | Runtime: 1h 33m

One of the better films about segregation available on Netflix is I Am Not Your Negro. The movie transports us to the late 1970s, to a letter that author James Baldwin penned to his literary agent.

He intended to write a book about the deaths of his three closest pals. However, just 39 pages were finished when he passed away in 1987. The film’s creator utilises it to shed light on the incomplete text.

12. Free State of Jones (2016)

IMDb rating: 6.9/10 | Runtime: 2h 19m

The Civil War-era story of obstinate farmer Newt Knight is told in the movie. Together with other local slaves and small farmers, he organised an uprising that caused Jones County to break away from the Confederacy.

Even after the county achieved independence, Newt persisted in his fight throughout Reconstruction. He rose to prominence as one of the most contentious and intriguing individuals in American history.

13. Freedom Riders (2010)

IMDb rating: 8.0/10 | Runtime: 1h 57m

One of the best films on slavery is Freedom Riders, which tells the story of more than 400 Americans who took part in a perilous experiment to stir up people’s consciences.

During the Civil Rights Movement, they sought to oppose racial segregation. They travelled in small, mixed-race groups while seated wherever they pleased, including in waiting areas, on buses, trains, and in restaurants.

14. The Butler (2013)

IMDb rating: 7.2/10 | Runtime: 2h 12m

A fascinating movie on Cecil Gaines is The Butler. He looked for the butler duties at the White House for eight presidents.

The Vietnam War and the civil rights movement are only two of the many factors that the movie looks at in relation to his life. When his family’s situation reaches a crisis point while he is still in duty, he realises the necessity to take matters into his own hands.

15. Descendant (2022)

IMDb rating: 7.1/10 | Runtime: 1h 49m

What does the Netflix slavery special cover? The most recent special documentary on slavery on Netflix is called Descendant. The characters in the movie are residents of the Africatown neighbourhood in Alabama.

It provides information about the family histories and social history of Clotilda’s ancestors. The Clotilda was the last recorded slave ship to bring illegally human enslaved individuals from Africa to America.

Conclusion

You should watch one of the numerous intriguing slavery-related films on Netflix right now. The majority of them include sentimental historical movies on the tribulations of Black and African-American people while they were slaves in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The best Hollywood productions will keep you engrossed in the screen all day or all night. There is something for everyone, from drama to comedy, action to adventure, science fiction to horror, and romantic to family films.

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