There were moments while watching this movie where I simply paused to appreciate its remarkable skill. It happened repeatedly throughout the viewing. Maybe I was more receptive to noticing things like camera angles and performances because, as I admitted to myself beforehand, I didn’t require much persuading about the evils of slavery. Or maybe it was a way for me to protect myself from the harsh realities that the film realistically depicts. The movie brought "Children of Men" to mind; when I saw that, I realized how simple it would be to create a less interesting and more simplistic version of the same story. I haven't watched enough films about slavery to say definitively, but I have a feeling that because many of the key people involved in this film are British, telling the story of someone who was made into a slave rather than being born into it, they were able to create some perspective and make something both lovely and authentic. Even though I believed I couldn’t possibly feel worse about slavery, the final scenes detailing Solomon's lack of legal recourse after his abduction and the mystery surrounding his death prevented the film from ending with an overly sentimental "victory of the human spirit" that others might have added.

Source on TMDB