Television series
The Book of Negroes
- Period drama
- Western
- Very dark
The Book of Negroes traces the extraordinary life of Aminata Diallo, abducted into slavery as a child and determined to reclaim her humanity and freedom. Unfolding across continents and decades, it's a sweeping historical drama that refuses to look away from brutality while centring Black resilience, love, and the possibility of agency even in the direst circumstances. For viewers who want their history unflinching and their characters unforgettable.
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12 Years a Slave2013
A visceral, unflinching account of Solomon Northup's kidnapping and enslavement, with Steve McQueen's direction finding moments of grace and humanity amid horror. Solomon's determination to survive and document his truth mirrors Aminata's refusal to be erased.
But The brutality is relentless and graphic. Not a film designed to comfort you—it's designed to bear witness.
Beloved1998
Toni Morrison's masterpiece adapted with Oprah Winfrey, tracking a woman's haunted journey through slavery's trauma toward reclamation. Like Aminata's story, it refuses to treat trauma as the whole of a person's existence.
But It's dreamlike and structurally complex—not a straightforward narrative, and it demands active attention and emotional resilience.
Underground2016
A bold, operatic reimagining of the Underground Railroad with urgency and style. The show shares The Book of Negroes' commitment to Black people as protagonists of their own liberation, with genuine stakes and strategic brilliance.
But It's visually and tonally maximalist—sometimes the stylisation overshadows subtlety, and it was cancelled after two seasons.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Book of Negroes
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs1937
Both refuse melodrama despite catastrophic subject matter. Both find transcendence in bearing witness to themselves. Both use the body as text.
An Argentine film-opera hybrid about a woman's devastating passage through displacement and violence, told through performance art and physical theatre. It's radically different in form—operatic, abstract—but the core is identical: a woman refusing to let horror erase her identity.
But It's experimental and demands patience with ambiguity. If you want clarity and conventional storytelling, the unfixed, dreamlike register will frustrate you.
More like this (7)
The Woman King2022
Viola Davis leads an ensemble of Black women warriors against slave traders in 1820s Dahomey. It channels the same spirit of agency and collective strength, with fight choreography that feels righteous rather than exploitative.
But The historical liberties are considerable, and if you're looking for strict accuracy over inspiration, you'll be frustrated.
Americana
Lupita Nyong'o anchors this adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel about a Nigerian woman navigating displacement and identity across continents. Like Aminata, it traces diaspora and the cost of forced migration with intelligence and warmth.
But It's character-driven and introspective rather than plot-propulsive, so if you want narrative momentum, this moves differently.
Roots2016
The remake of the landmark miniseries, tracing Kunta Kinte's capture and the generations that follow. Sweeping, devastating, and committed to refusing dehumanisation as an outcome of slavery. Essential viewing alongside The Book of Negroes.
But At eight episodes, it's a considerable commitment, and some of the dramatisation softens edges that historical accounts leave sharp.
The Underground Railroad2021
Barry Jenkins adapts Colson Whitehead's novel into a surreal, visually astonishing meditation on freedom and flight. Cora's journey northward echoes Aminata's yearning for home across a reimagined landscape of American trauma.
But Its magical realism and experimental structure will alienate anyone wanting strict historical realism or conventional narrative.
Queen Sugar2016
Ava DuVernay's series about Black family and ownership in contemporary Louisiana carries similar DNA—Black characters in full, complex lives, economics and legacy woven through every frame. It's a different era but shares the refusal to be marginal.
But Contemporary family drama moves differently than historical epic, and if you want period immersion, this is decidedly present-day.
A Respectable Trade1998
A British TV film tracing the Bristol slave trade through intertwined destinies. Quieter and more domestic than The Book of Negroes, but invested in the same archive of stolen lives and the people determined to survive intact.
But It's less known and less lavish in production, and some may find its restraint less dramatically satisfying than sweep.
The Half of It2020
Both understand that resilience is not just surviving catastrophe—it's maintaining your own sense of self, humour, and choice within systems designed to extract utility and deny humanity.
Alice Wu's film follows Ellie, a brilliant, poor, queer girl navigating identity across cultural and economic divides while maintaining her integrity. A contemporary American story, yes—but it shares The Book of Negroes' profound investment in a marginalised person's interiority and wit, and the ways systems try to reduce people to utility.
But It's a small, intimate indie film about high schoolers, not a historical epic about continents. The scale is deliberately miniature, which some will find slight.
