In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.
Based on an incredible true story of one man's fight for survival and freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free Black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty personified by a malevolent slave owner, as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon's chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life.—Fox Searchlight
Saratoga Springs, New York, 1841. Solomon Northup, the free-born African American son of a freed slave, finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Abducted and sold into slavery, Solomon ends up in the sugarcane and cotton plantations of antebellum Louisiana, doomed to work his fingers to the bone away from his wife and two kids. Sold to the highest bidder, Northup adopts a new identity and does everything he can to survive a succession of hardened deep-South enslavers bent on breaking his spirit. But as the weeks turn into years, a ray of hope shines in the shape of a benevolent abolitionist who crosses paths with the forsaken captive. And after twelve cruel years of soul-crushing slavery, Solomon finally sees his family again.—Nick Riganas
In 1841, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a free African American man working as a skilled carpenter and fiddle player and living with his wife Margaret (Quvenzhane Wallis) and two children in Saratoga Springs, New York. Northup had a respectable and comfortable life.Two men Brown (Scoot McNairy) and Hamilton (Taran Killam) offer him a two-week job as a musician in their troupe which is travelling to Washington (they offer $1 for each day on the road and $3 for every night of performance). They drug Northup when they reach Washington and he wakes up in chains, about to be sold into slavery. They deliver Northup to James H. Birch, the owner of a slave pen. Northup proclaims his freedom, only to be violently beaten and tortured.
Northup is shipped to New Orleans and sold to Slave trader Theophilus Freeman (Paul Giamatti), and is renamed "Platt," the identity of a runaway slave from Georgia. Other slaves tell him he must adapt (and not tell anyone that he can read or write) if he wants to survive in the South. The slaves are transported across the border in concealed carriages and then shipped via a steamboat down South.
Beaten repeatedly into admitting that he is a slave, he is ultimately purchased by plantation owner William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch).Northup manages to stay on good terms with Ford, a relatively benevolent master. Northup engineers a waterway for transporting logs swiftly and cost-effectively across a swamp, and Ford presents him with a violin in gratitude. Carpenter John Tibeats (Paul Dano) resents Northup and begins verbally harassing him.
The tensions between Tibeats and Northup escalate; Tibeats attacks Northup, and Northup fights back. In retaliation, Tibeats and his friends attempt to lynch Northup. Tibeats and his men are stopped by the overseer. Northup is left on tiptoes with the noose around his neck for hours before Ford arrives and cuts him down.
Ford explains that in order to save Northup's life he must be sold to Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender). Northup attempts to reason with Ford, explaining that he is actually a free man. Ford states that he "cannot hear this" and responds "he has a debt to pay" on Northup's purchase price.
Epps believes his right to abuse his slaves is sanctioned in the Bible. The slaves must pick at least 200 pounds of cotton every day or be beaten. A young female slave named Patsey (Lupita Nyong'O) daily picks over 500 pounds and is praised lavishly by Epps, who also repeatedly sexually assaults her. Epps' wife Mary Epps (Sarah Paulson) is envious of her and frequently humiliates and attacks her.The slaves live in squalid conditions with several male and female slaves sharing the same, small room and are given meager rations to survive. Occasionally, slaves indulge in sexual acts without any privacy.
Patsey's abuse worsens as Epps continues to sexually assault her. Patsey wishes to die and asks Northup to kill her, which he refuses. Sometime later, an outbreak of cotton worm befalls Epps' plantation; he decides that the new slaves are the cause, a plague sent by God. He leases them to a neighboring plantation owned by Judge Turner (Bryan Batt) for the season. While there, Northup gains the favor of the plantation's owner, who gives him a coin after he plays the fiddle at a wedding anniversary celebration.
When Northup returns to Epps, he attempts to use the money to pay a white field hand and former overseer Armsby (Garret Dillahunt) to mail a letter to Northup's friends in New York. Northup had written the letter by making ink from blueberries that were given to him as part of his daily rations.The field hand agrees to deliver the letter and takes the money but betrays Northup. Epps questions and threatens Northup, but Northup convinces him that Armsby is lying. Northup tearfully burns the letter, his only hope of freedom.
Northup begins working on the construction of a gazebo with a Canadian laborer named Bass (Brad Pitt). Bass earns Epps' displeasure by expressing his opposition to slavery, by trying to explain to Epps that he could have a little compassion towards those working for him. Epps on the other hand doesn't see them as people, but as property - his property.
One day, Epps becomes enraged after discovering Patsey missing from his plantation. When she returns, she reveals she was gone to get a bar of soap from Mistress Shaw (Alfre Woodard), having become sick from her own stench as a result of being forbidden soap by Mary Epps. Epps doesn't believe her and orders her stripped and tied to a post. Encouraged by his wife, Epps forces Northup to whip Patsey. Northup reluctantly obeys, but Epps eventually takes the whip away from Northup, savagely lashing her.
Northup breaks his violin, and while continuing to work on the gazebo, he asks Bass where he is from. Bass replies that he is from Canada. Northup confides his kidnapping to Bass. Once again, Northup asks for help in getting a letter to Saratoga Springs. Bass, risking his life, agrees to do that.
One day, Northup is called over by the local sheriff, who arrives in a carriage with another man. The sheriff asks Northup a series of questions to confirm his answers that match the facts of his life in New York. Northup recognizes the sheriff's companion as a shopkeeper Mr. Parker (Rob Steinberg) he knows from Saratoga. The man had come to free him, and the two embrace. Though Epps angrily resists and Patsey is distraught, Northup bids farewell to Patsey and rides off to his freedom.
After being enslaved for twelve years, Northup is restored to freedom and returned to his family. Northup returns home to reunite with his wife and children. His daughter, who is now married, introduces his grandson and namesake, Solomon Northup Staunton. He apologizes for his long absence while his family comforts him.
A textual epilogue recounts Northup's unsuccessful lawsuits against Brown, Hamilton, and Birch; the 1853 publication of Northup's slave narrative memoir, Twelve Years a Slave; his role in the abolitionist movement; and the absence of information regarding his death and burial.
