When the premise for Antebellum was first announced, many wondered whether it was based on Kindred, the 1979 novel by Octavia E. Butler. The film follows successful author Veronica Henley after she is abducted and finds herself thrust back into the antebellum time period. Forced to live life on a plantation under the name Eden, she comes up with a plan to get back to the life she knew before it’s too late. So yes, both Antebellum and Kindred have a Black woman writer and author as a protagonist who seemingly shifts between her modern-day life and life on an antebellum-era plantation. However, this is where their similarities end.
Kindred actually finds main character Dana going back in time and focuses on Dana’s connection to the past as she tries not to succumb to the horrors an