Without a doubt, the story in “The Underground Railroad” isn’t going to be full of rainbows and unicorns. The subject matter alone, dealing with the titular route that people would travel to find freedom during the era in the United States where slavery was still the norm, is rough stuff, to be certain. But somehow, with Barry Jenkins behind the camera, he’s able to turn even the most disturbing images into something visually stunning.
As seen in the new teaser for “The Underground Railroad,” Jenkins presents a clip from his series that is told backwards, as beautiful music plays and we see people running in slow motion. In context, it’s probably pretty damn powerful, but as a teaser, you might find yourself swept away by the craftsmanship on display.
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“The Underground Railroad” isn’t just a straight-up retelling of what happened during the era of slavery in the US. Instead, it’s based on the novel of the same name, which posits an alternate history where the title route is actually a literal railroad, complete with conductors, trains, and tunnels. The story will tell the story of two people taking the journey on the route to freedom.
Of course, seeing beautiful imagery isn’t anything new in a Barry Jenkins project. Over the course of his previous two films, “If Beale Street Could Talk” and the Oscar-winning “Moonlight,” the writer-director has given us plenty of beautiful scenes that are juxtaposed in a reality that can be incredibly brutal and harsh. Combined with a Nicholas Britell score, Jenkins is able to take these stories and show them in ways that are hard-hitting, emotional, and gorgeous.
“The Underground Railroad” doesn’t have a release date yet, but the series is expected to arrive on Amazon Prime Video this year.
