hulu slave time travel

‘Kindred’ Is a Time-Traveling Slavery Series That Fails to Do Octavia Butler Justice

• By Alan Sepinwall

Alan Sepinwall

In the new FX drama Kindred, a young Black woman named Dana finds herself time-traveling back and forth between Los Angeles in 2016 to a slave plantation in early 19th century Maryland. On some of these trips, Dana (Mallori Johnson) takes along Kevin (Micah Stock), a white man she has only just started dating, out of an understandable fear of being in that time and place on her own. For the most part, both are horrified to be there. But there is a peaceful moment during one of their longer visits when they are surprised to recognize that the plantation has begun to feel more real than their lives 200 years in the future.

Viewers watching the series, which playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has adapted from Octavia Butler’s acclaimed 1979 novel, may find themselves having the opposite reaction. Though the show spends the bulk of its time on the plantation, it feels far more vivid, complex, and interesting during our periodic glimpses of the modern world.

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“There’s gotta be rules to this thing,” Kevin insists at one point, and the season gradually explains them. The most important is that Dana is somehow linked to Rufus (David Alexander Kaplan), the son of abusive plantation owner Thomas (Ryan Kwanten from True Blood ) and the emotionally fragile Margaret (Gayle Rankin from GLOW ). Dana’s mission, it seems, is to protect Rufus, and perhaps one or more of the enslaved Black people under Tom’s control. She gets some help from Kevin, and from a savvy free woman named Olivia (Sheria Irving), but the burden falls mostly on herself.  

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There is obvious tension and suspense in exactly how Dana and Kevin will talk themselves out of various problems, and Mallori Johnson (a TV novice seen earlier this year in a supporting role in Apple’s WeCrashed ) is more than up to the burden of how much she is required to say without words, and how much the show needs her as its charismatic center. And despite its high-concept, Kindred does not flinch in the slightest from the physical and psychological terror of an enslaved life.

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Dana and Kevin desperately want to escape the plantation forever, so it is perhaps not surprising that Kindred may have unconsciously given its audience the same desire. But it makes for a viewing experience that’s much less engaging than you would expect, given the enduring legacy of its source material.

The entire first season of Kindred begins streaming December 13 on Hulu. I’ve seen all eight episodes.

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In sci-fi series 'Kindred,' a modern-day Black woman is transported to an 1800s plantation

FX’s “Kindred,” which begins streaming Tuesday on Hulu, plunges viewers into a mystery that exists to be experienced, not solved. A young Black woman named Dana, later revealed as an aspiring TV writer in modern-day Los Angeles, lies dazed and apparently injured on the floor of her new house. Barely able to move, she grabs a bag and gathers clothes, a kitchen knife and a bottle of aspirin. She eases into a tub of water, which turns red from her wounds. Then the police start banging on her door, demanding to know whether anything is wrong.

What exactly is happening? There’s no long wait for an answer. Like the 1979 novel by Octavia E. Butler that inspired it, the new series quickly reveals that Dana somehow is time-traveling back to an early-1800s Maryland plantation, the place where her ancestors lived with the horrific reality of slavery. While the eight episodes (which arrive all at once) make some changes to the book’s narrative, the show’s creator, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, says his dream scenario would be for people to watch them in tandem with reading Butler’s print version.

“The book will always be the book, and Octavia, thank God, her work will always be there. I just wanted to celebrate her,” says the noted playwright and Obie award winner, who previously worked on HBO’s “Watchmen.”

“That’s what got me through the hardest days, thinking Octavia, Octavia, Octavia.”

“Kindred” is the latest FX show to screen exclusively on Hulu, a partnership that has resulted in the acclaimed “Reservation Dogs,” a comedy-drama about young Native Americans, and “The Bear,” which made the phrase “Yes, chef!” go viral with its intense, quirky portrayal of the staff of a Chicago Italian sandwich spot.

Like those critical hits,  Jacobs-Jenkins’ adaptation has the potential for big pop-culture impact, particularly since Butler’s writings have become a hot source for film and TV projects. “Kindred” is the first to be completed of several screen projects drawn from the author's works. They include a post-apocalyptic saga based on “Dawn” from Ava DuVernay’s production company,  a romance involving immortals spun from “Wild Seed” from Viola Davis’ Juvee Productions and a vampire tale from “Fledging” that’s being executive-produced by Issa Rae and J.J. Abrams.

 An icon in the science fiction genre, Butler is now considered one of the most notable writers of the 20 th century.  She spent years in obscurity, writing in the small hours of the morning and supporting herself with routine jobs during the day. “Kindred” was considered her breakthrough novel. In addition to winning several major sci-fi awards, Butler received a MacArthur “genius” fellowship in 1995. She was the first sci-fi author so honored.

Since Butler’s death in 2006 at age 58, interest in her short stories and novels has continued to grow as readers keep discovering the relevance of the themes that she addressed: climate change, racial injustice, economic and social inequality among them. During the COVID-19 pandemic, her 1993 novel “The Parable of the Sower” reached the New York Times best-seller list, offering what Slate called in 2020 “a blueprint for adjusting to uncertainty.”

“I think if there is a resurgence of interest for her today, it’s because what really defines her is her prescience. She was a visionary, the way that she understands the issues to come. ... When you think of the ‘Parable of the Sower,’ her book on climate change, the story takes place in 2024, so we’re almost there. It’s where everything collapses,” says Benedicte Boisseron, a professor of Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan who participated in a panel discussion on Butler’s enduring influence in March 2022 during an Octavia Butler Week at the Ann Arbor campus.

Jacobs-Jenkins, who discovered Butler’s books as a young teen, says “Kindred” always has stayed with him. When he returned to the book in 2010 as an adult, “I finished reading it and thought this is a television show.” The project was sold to FX in 2016 and stayed in development for about five years. The pilot finally was shot in fall 2021, and filming for the entire series took place for about six months in 2022, with rural Georgia subbing for Maryland.

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Despite the time-travel element of “Kindred,” it recounts what daily life was like for enslaved men and women in the antebellum South with the painful accuracy of a real memoir. Butler did extensive research for the novel, traveling by bus from California to Maryland and visiting historical sites like Mount Vernon, home of George Washington, which in the 1970s barely addressed the existence of slavery

“There wasn’t the internet, there wasn’t Google, there wasn’t really even, like, library shelves full of scholarship. She was really kind of trying to save something from oblivion, maybe,” Jacobs-Jenkins says. “For me, it’s a great irony of the book that it remains feeling so present tense because I think it just indicates how resistant the culture is to really processing the meaningfulness of this history.”

Jacobs-Jenkins read Butler’s papers and reflected on the differences between 1979 and today before choosing the departures that the series makes from the book. For instance, Dana’s time travel is changed to a generational phenomenon that was shared by certain relatives, a twist that he says was inspired by Butler's early drafts.

Also, the  character of Kevin (Dana’s white husband in the book) becomes a new love interest here who finds himself being taken along on this impossible, potentially lethal journey with a woman he barely knows. ”I just wanted to see if there was a way to build that relationship convincingly in real time," says Jacobs-Jenkins.

There also is a nod to the contemporary "Karen" meme of white privilege with the addition of a neighbor who's nosy to an intrusive level about what’s occurring at Dana’s house.

“For me, the best adaptations aren’t necessarily about translating something beat by beat, word for word, but trying to re-create in some ways what the original artist was attempting to create in their own context,” says Jacobs-Jenkins.

An Obie award winner who, like Butler, was himself a MacArthur “genius” fellow, Jacobs-Jenkins also took on the task of being the showrunner for “Kindred.” It was his first brush with being the person essentially in charge of guiding an entire series.

“The experience of going from a writer to a showrunner is like going from a beggar to a CEO overnight,” he says with a laugh. “I spent six years trying to prove to people the idea had something in it and suddenly you’re handed the keys to a thousand Mercedes.”

Despite challenges like having to shoot under COVID-19 safety precautions, Jacobs-Jenkins says he enjoyed the process, especially working with the actors. ”There were definitely a ton of difficulties, but I just felt that every day was a blessing.”

For the role of Dana, who is on-screen for most of the scenes in the series, the production found a future star in  newcomer Mallori Johnson, who was in her fourth year of studying acting at Juilliard when she auditioned for the part.  Micah Stock, her co-star as Kevin, describes her as an “astonishingly skilled actor” for someone just out of college.  “There were times on set where those of us who were a little bit older would look at her and say, 'I can’t do that.'”

Stock, one of several cast members from the New York theater scene, says he already was a friend and longtime fan of Jacobs-Jenkins when he got the "Kindred" script from his representatives. “I think at some point in the process I wrote Branden and said, ‘I just want you to know I really want to do this,’” he says.

Although “Kindred” is more than 40 years old, it's reaching small screens at a time when a debate is raging about how U.S. history and topics related to race are being taught in public schools. Stock thinks the series, like the book, will encourage dialogue.

"The show will spark these conversations, I’m sure, and there’ll be lots of discourse around these things. And ultimately, that’s the win, right? It's the conversation.”

For a nation to have any true sense of reconciliation, facing the past as honestly as “Kindred” does is a necessary step. “It’s very important that people understand (that) to reckon with your history, you have to reckon with … the past of slavery,” says U-M's Boisseron.

She's glad that the book studied at universities has become a potential binge watch. “It opens Octavia Butler to a whole new audience,” she says.

Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at [email protected].

All eight episodes arrive Tuesday on Hulu

Screen Rant

What is kindred all you need to know about fx's time-traveling show.

FX’s adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s classic novel Kindred just had its first trailer released, leaving a bunch of massive questions unanswered.

The first trailer for FX's upcoming sci-fi thriller series Kindred is out now, and it has left a lot of questions unanswered. Based on Octavia E. Butler's critically acclaimed 1979 novel of the same name, Kindred is a time-traveling literary epic that explores themes of race, slavery, and American history, with the violent and dark story taking place over decades. Its first trailer doesn't give away much, with just hints about its time-traveling rules and complex story, leaving many viewers scratching their heads.

FX's Kindred will be an eight-episode series that adapts Butler's classic novel and is the first-ever on-screen adaptation of the story. The book is Butler's best-selling work and has an incredibly dedicated fanbase. Because of this, the trailer for FX's Kindred adaptation has garnered a lot of hype, and FX has some high expectations to meet. There's a lot of ground to cover, including what Kindred is about, how faithful it will be to the book, and when it will come out.

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What Is Kindred About?

Kindred tells the story of Dana Franklin, a 26-year-old black woman from the modern day (1976 in the novel) who is suddenly and inexplicably transported back in time. Dana finds herself at a pre-Civil War plantation in Maryland in the Antebellum south, surrounded by all the slavery, sexism, and violence that would be expected of the time period. After passing out, Dana is transported back to her 1976 home without a clue of what had happened.

Over the course of the novel, Dana passes out and is transported back to the plantation several times, attempting to figure out what is causing these episodes during each visit. Kindred spans decades, using its sci-fi concept to explore racism , feminism, social constructs, and tons of other important themes. It is a classic example of using complex science-fiction storytelling to address social horrors. Kindred spans decades, weaving together a complex plot with rich themes to create a novel that has been praised and remembered since its release in 1979.

How Does Kindred's Time Traveling Work?

Unlike other sci-fi movies and TV shows, Kindred 's time-traveling doesn't come via a machine or a magical object. In fact, throughout most of the story, Dana doesn't even know what is causing it. The main plot centers around Dana trying to stop her unexplainable jumps to the past, and while fully explaining it would spoil the show, there are some rules that are introduced early on in the novel to explain Kindred 's system of time travel.

Kindred 's time travel has one core rule : although time progresses as normal when Dana is in the past, only a few minutes have passed when she wakes up in the present. For example, Dana's second trip back in time sees her stay there for several hours, unable to leave. However, when she returns home, her husband assures her that it has only been a brief absence. At one point, Dana discovers that five years have passed in the Antebellum south, while she had only been in 1976 for eight days.

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There are some other rules revealed about Kindred 's time travel early on. Dana discovers that her time-traveling is somehow related to Rufus Weylin, the son of a slave owner that Dana rescues from death in her first trip to the past. Rufus can be seen in the trailer, being the young boy that Dana carries out of the burning building. Each time she travels to the past, Dana appears near the Weylins, making her think that Rufus is key to why it keeps happening. Dana also learns that others can time travel with her as long as they are making contact with her when she passes out. This leads to some major problems later in the novel.

What Is FX's Kindred Changing From The Book?

The extent that Kindred deviates from the book is unknown for now, with FX keeping much of the story under wraps, but it seems to be fairly faithful to the book story-wise, with several shots from the trailer being ripped straight from the novel. However, FX's Kindred seems to change one key thing from the novel: its tone. The trailer for Kindred gives off more of a psychological thriller vibe, almost sci-fi horror flavor instead of the mystery drama style that the novel sticks close to. While the book does have some horrific moments of violence, Kindred isn't really a scary story. Considering it's just a trailer, though, it could be misrepresenting the tone of the final show.

Will Kindred Season 1 Tell The Whole Story?

FX's Kindred is currently only eight episodes, which may not be enough to tell the whole story. Kindred is a fairly complex novel, with its story taking place over years and even decades. Each time Dana goes to the past, the plantation's characters have gotten older, meaning that the show would need different actors to play the same character as they age. It isn't yet confirmed if the eight episodes are just Kindred season 1, with a further season to be commissioned if it proves popular, or if the upcoming 2022 show is a limited sci-fi series .

Kindred could easily fill up several seasons of television on its own. FX can even continue the Kindred series past the book, telling original stories in the same universe — something that has a lot of potential. While the question of how much of the novel is being adapted is still open, Kindred 's strange release pattern may hint at an answer.

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When Does FX's Kindred Come Out?

Although Kindred 's first trailer was released just recently, the show is dropping sooner than such traditionally early marketing might suggest. Like many of FX's other shows, Kindred will be released on Hulu, with the series premiering on December 13. The first episode won't be the only thing coming out that day, though. In a surprise twist, all eight episodes of FX's Kindred will be released on Hulu on December 13, allowing the exciting story to be binged by viewers. The 2022 TV calendar has already been packed with fantastic content, and eight episodes of FX's Kindred landing at once will be the perfect way to close out the year.

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‘Kindred’ Review: Octavia Butler Comes to the Screen

Her 1979 novel about time travel to the slaveholding South is adapted, loosely, in an FX series on Hulu.

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By Mike Hale

The hallmark of Octavia E. Butler ’s beloved novel “Kindred” is its believability. You may race through the book because it’s a cleverly constructed and paced science-fiction(-ish) page-turner. But its power comes from Butler’s meticulously imagined depiction of the lives of slaves and slave owners in the antebellum South and her rigorous consideration of how a time-traveling contemporary Black woman (circa 1976) might fare in that world. The effectiveness of the fantasy depends on the density of the reality.

“Kindred” is finally coming to the screen, 43 years after its publication, not as a movie or a mini-series but as an eight-episode season meant to be the first in a series. (Made for FX, it premieres Tuesday on Hulu.) The ingenious premise is still there: Dana James (Mallori Johnson), now an aspiring television writer in 2016 Los Angeles, finds herself being zapped to 1815 Maryland whenever Rufus Weylin (David Alexander Kaplan), the young son of a plantation owner, feels his life is in danger and he needs saving. Only minutes or hours have elapsed in the present when she returns home, sometimes after perilous weeks or months in the past. Like other involuntary-time-travel stories, it is inherently suspenseful, generating cliffhangers at regular intervals, and the show takes full advantage.

The other side of Butler’s storytelling equation has gone missing, however. It is hard to believe much of anything that happens in FX’s “Kindred,” in either the skimpy, cardboard depiction of plantation life or in the clichéd presentation of modern city life. (The present-day plot has, unfortunately, been significantly expanded.) Butler grounded her speculation in historical and, crucially, psychological reality; the series takes her story elements and slices, dices and pads them in a way that keeps us from believing or becoming invested in the characters Butler worked so hard to build.

The tendency to inject melodrama and sensationalism, to shy away from tough-mindedness and harshness, and to bollix up story lines, is a familiar one in open-ended adaptations of self-contained, literary novels; it almost seems unavoidable. (For another recent example, see Apple TV+’s series based on Min Jin Lee’s “Pachinko.” ) The playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (“An Octoroon”), who developed the series, has made fundamental changes that “open up” the story in conventional ways while dissipating the intensity of Butler’s narrative.

The biggest change is the introduction of a character, connected closely to Dana, whose presence amps up the emotions in uninteresting ways while muddying the story’s central themes of kinship, guilt and shared responsibility. Another is that instead of being married, Dana and her white partner, Kevin Franklin (Micah Stock), are just beginning to date; rather than watching an established couple’s bond being tested by a horrible and uncontrollable situation, we’re watching a new couple bonding with a disconcerting overlay of romantic-comedy jokiness and ersatz soulfulness. (You could argue that it’s an accurate portrayal of how a young, 21st-century American couple would behave on a 19th-century plantation, but I hope you’d be wrong.)

And then there’s the beefed-up modern-day story line, which adds stereotypical in-your-business relatives (Eisa Davis and Charles Parnell) for Dana and two neighbors (Brooke Bloom and Louis Cancelmi) who are howling caricatures of white paranoia and privilege. In part, it feels like a simple attempt at updating a baby boomer’s novel to a millennial-Gen X time frame and sensibility — the series also weaves in addiction and anti-gay prejudice — but the primary effect is an odd shift in which the most dire threats to Dana and Kevin seem to exist in the present rather than in the violent, disease-ridden, slaveholding past.

That’s not to say that the realities of slavery are never shown or alluded to. But while you see the bondage, oppressiveness and constant threat of violence, you seldom feel them in any powerful way. The Weylin plantation, despite the hysteria of its mistress (Gayle Rankin) and the occasional ruthlessness of its master (Ryan Kwanten), looks like a reasonably convivial and rational place, its dangers mostly confined to abusive language and the occasional slap.

It’s a puzzling choice (and a big departure from the mood of the book) that leaches the tension out of the story. Perhaps it takes into account the tastes of studio executives or potential viewers. Another guess is that the more harrowing aspects of Butler’s story, or whatever is left of it, are being held back for future seasons; the current season ends with one of the book’s more dramatic acts of violence. The adult Rufus, Dana’s primary antagonist in the book, is still in the future.

Kwanten (“True Blood”) is probably the most recognizable member of the low-profile cast, and he makes one of the strongest impressions, though his jovial, mock-courtly take on Tom Weylin is a little incongruous. Dana and Kevin don’t feel very fleshed out, but that may have more to do with the writing than with Johnson’s and Stock’s performances. The liveliest characterization so far is Eisa Davis’s portrayal of Dana’s aunt, a smotherer with a heart of gold.

“Kindred” the series takes up, if often in a superficial way, many of the themes of “Kindred” the book, and it will draw some deserved praise for doing so. But where Butler started with characters and imagined a world around them, the series starts with a received notion of the world and shuffles characters around within it, relying on mystery, melodrama and a smidgen of wry humor for its entirely ordinary effects.

An earlier version of this review misstated the title of a play by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. It is “An Octoroon,” not “Octoroon.”

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Mike Hale is a television critic. He also writes about online video, film and media. He came to The Times in 1995 and worked as an editor in Sports, Arts & Leisure and Weekend Arts before becoming a critic in 2009. More about Mike Hale

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‘kindred’ review: fx/hulu’s octavia butler adaptation takes risks that don’t pay off — yet.

The revered novel about time travel and slavery gets a series iteration starring impressive newcomer Mallori Johnson.

By Daniel Fienberg

Daniel Fienberg

Chief Television Critic

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As the recent kerfuffle involving a producer of Apple TV+’s Emancipation bringing an 1863 photograph of a horrifyingly abused slave to a red-carpet premiere reminded us, trauma is not a thing to be treated glibly, regardless of intent.

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Trepidation might explain why boundary-breaking scribe Octavia Butler ‘s Kindred , despite its iconic literary status, has never been adapted to the screen until this upcoming FX-produced Hulu series. Kindred is a time-travel novel and a slavery novel, and the possibility of blending those elements in a way that yields the opposite of alchemy is high.

Johnson plays Dana, an East Coast transplant who arrives in Los Angeles in 2016 with dreams of writing for TV. At a tense dinner with her local family, Dana meets waiter Kevin (Micah Stock) and they begin a flirtation that soon becomes intimate, which proves handy because Dana is going through some stuff. See, at apparently inexplicable moments, Dana is disappearing and emerging on a Maryland tobacco plantation in the early 1800s. Dana’s arrivals seem to coincide with moments of jeopardy for young Rufus Weylin (David Alexander Kaplan), son of boozy estate owner Thomas (Ryan Kwanten) and pathologically insecure Margaret (Gayle Rankin).

This is convenient for Rufus, who has a tendency toward near-drowning, near-burning and other near-death escapades, but it’s vastly less convenient for Dana, a young Black woman whose first moment of real independence keeps being marred by unplanned jaunts to a time and place where everybody assumes she’s property. Is Dana’s traveling entirely about saving Rufus’ life over and over again, or does it relate to the maintenance of distant branches in her family tree — the title indicates a big ol’ “Yes!” on that one.

I don’t think Jacobs-Jenkins is wrong to recognize that both the mechanics of Dana’s time travel and her life in the present day had to be more substantively developed for Kindred to function as an ongoing series.

In the book, for example, the present day of 1976 exists thematically for bicentennial parallels — the gap between the 200-year-old aspirations of the country and its nascent realities are hard to miss — and practically as a place for Dana to take baths and do basic research. In the series, Dana has an aunt and uncle who can tell her family lore, which involves a missing mother and connections to Olivia (Sheria Irving), whom she meets in the past.

Dana also has nosy white neighbors (Brooke Bloom and Louis Cancelmi) whose distrust — somewhat well-earned, since Dana’s comings and goings often include screaming and unexplainable wounds — makes them Karens several years before the term existed. As palpable as the threats are for Dana in the past, there’s no moment in the series more chilling than the nighttime arrival of the LAPD at her house — which is even more menacing if you recall the connection between modern policing and slavery-era patrolling.

I can accept that the Weylin farm is intended to seem underpopulated and a little drab, but the few slaves we meet — Austin Smith’s Luke, Sophina Brown’s Sarah, Christopher Farrar’s Nigel, Lindsey Blackwell’s Carrie — fail to materialize as characters. Their relationships with Dana never make sense because it’s almost impossible to fathom how anybody at the plantation is viewing Dana, or how she’s viewing her own predicament, without any interiority or voiceover to match the book’s internal monologue. It’s six or seven episodes in before Dana broaches the idea that she’s becoming inured to her circumstances in the past — a contention that doesn’t really make sense since there’s been so much back-and-forth with the present.

Johnson has to carry a lot of the stakes on her shoulders. We see just enough of the light-hearted young woman watching episodes of Dynasty to learn television structure — a character detail that, thus far, has paid no dividends — that there’s effective pathos in watching first the joy, and then even the spirited curiosity, drain. She’s modern in affect, but not too modern, and I think that lets the series accept she could fit in on the plantation in ways the scripts don’t really otherwise justify.

Though Kindred has this big loss at the center of the story, I can see easily how the concentration on time-travel mechanics, how giving Kevin his own delineated character journey, how raising the stakes in the present day might eventually pay off. The show isn’t there yet. So far, those choices have the effect of upstaging the sequences set in the past — something not helped by the series’ restrained handling of the atrocities of slavery. The decision to shy away from fetishized violence will help viewers with no interest in another stylized depiction of trauma and it probably makes the parallels between 1800s and 2016 more unsettling and relatable, but it lowers the overall stakes in ways that are confusing and a little disappointing.

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Review: Octavia E. Butler's genius comes to life with haunting slavery story 'Kindred'

" The Underground Railroad ." " Antebellum ." "12 Years a Slave." "The Birth of a Nation." "Harriet." "Them." "Lovecraft Country." " Emancipation ." 

There's something of a cottage industry in Hollywood's recent stories of slavery and historical racism, and an even more specific subgenre with a science fiction, fantasy or horror elements. Some of these films and TV shows are transcendent and affecting, while others are exploitative and in poor taste. With saturation can come exhaustion, repetition and stereotype: Will Smith's "Emancipation," which arrived on Apple TV+ this month, was met with some criticism for its use of the tropes of the slavery narrative. 

It is in this context that  FX debuts "Kindred" (streaming Tuesday on Hulu, ★★★ out of four), an eight-episode adaptation of celebrated science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler's 1979 novel about a modern-day Black woman (Mallori Johnson) who's transported back in time to the slavery plantation of her ancestors. 

More: 'Kindred': How the new Hulu show compares to Octavia E. Butler's book

The recent spate of similarly themed projects may make "Kindred" feel derivative, even though its source material predates most of them. And perhaps on the surface, "Kindred" looks like many of these other stories. But it is far closer to the breathtaking "Railroad" than the graceless "Antebellum."

It is a haunting, horrific story, told with nuance, care and excellent timing by creator Branden Jacobs-Jenkins ("Watchmen"). It is not just another one of those slavery stories, where the humanity of the enslaved characters is wiped away by the narrative need for them to be heroes, defined only by their enslavement and quest for freedom. This is a story about one woman, her past and her future, and its scope is both intimate and epic.

More: How Octavia Butler's legacy was born out of a bad science-fiction movie

Dana James (Johnson) has just left a life of familial obligation behind in New York and moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of writing for television. She barely has time to furnish her new house and spend time with her new romantic interest Kevin (Micah Stock) when she starts to see flashes of a very different world: a plantation in the antebellum era owned by Tom Weylin (Ryan Kwanten), a brutish dullard of a man. It becomes clear all too quickly that these aren't visions or dreams, but that she is being yanked to and fro through time. Eventually, Kevin, who is white, is transported with her, and the two are forced to play the narrative of slave owner and slave in order to survive. 

Dana's familial connection to the plantation comes into focus slowly over the course of the series. The title provides a clue to the themes and intricacies of the story; this is an intimate tale about kin, family and roots, and what happens when, as a Black person descended from enslaved people, Dana feels unmoored. 

More: Afrofuturism beginner's reading list: Octavia E. Butler, N.K. Jemisin, Janelle Monáe, more

Dana is an ideal protagonist for a story as complex and layered as this, a woman who took control of her life at last only to have it brutally pulled away from her by whatever force is sending her back and forth through time. Dana is an observer, a writer and student of humanity. In the series premiere, she is busy diagramming old episodes of the 1980s soap "Dynasty," documenting every element of the story and the larger-than-life characters who populate it. She applies her keen awareness throughout her ordeal. 

Johnson carries the weight of Dana's trauma and emotional whiplash handily, managing scenes of horror and lightness with equal aplomb. The actress anchors a strong cast that stands out amid a flurry of time-traveling and period costumes that in lesser shows can detract from the performances. 

Considering the breadth and depth of Butler's bibliography in the past half-century, it's shocking that Hollywood has never gone to the well of the award-winning author's oeuvre before (more are currently in development).

I'll let her fans decide if it's a worthy representation of her prose, but as a stand-alone series, "Kindred" has plenty to say.

FX's 'Kindred' Brings Octavia Butler's Classic Time Travel Novel to Life in Terrifying Trailer: Watch!

The adaptation will air all eight episodes exclusively on Hulu Dec. 13.

FX has released the first look at its upcoming series,  Kindred , offering a look at a terrifying concept -- time traveling while Black.

The eight-episode limited series is based on Hugo Award winner Octavia Butler’s acclaimed novel of the same name, starring Mallori Johnson as Dana James, a young Black aspiring writer living in Los Angeles with her husband, Kevin Franklin. 

In the trailer, Dana, who has uprooted her life of familial obligation and relocated to Los Angeles, wakes on a riverbank in antebellum Maryland. When she saves a white boy drowning nearby, she's quickly rewarded with a gun to her head. Her screams transport her back to her home in the present day, where Kevin (Micah Stock) finds her panicking in the living room.

Thus begins Dana's viciously horrifying ping-ponging between the present and a life of brutal enslavement at a plantation owned by the wealthy Weylin family. While she fights to survive her new reality, her relationship with Kevin is put to the test as Dana struggles to confront secrets and reckon with the racial violence she never knew ran through her blood. 

Kindred  also stars Ryan Kwanten, Gayle Rankin, Austin Smith, David Alexander Kaplan, Sophina Brown and Sheria Irving.

The series was developed for television by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who executive produces the series with Joe Weisberg, Joel Fields, Courtney Lee-Mitchell, Jules Jackson and filmmaker Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel for Protozoa Pictures. Janicza Bravo directed and served as an executive producer on the pilot.

All eight episodes of Kindred  will premiere on Hulu, Dec. 13.

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The Best Time Travel Shows to Watch on Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon, and More

We've all dreamed of living in another period

Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan, Outlander

At this point, there's no shortage of shows that deal with time travel in some capacity. It's a popular subject, and for good reason! Now more than ever you might be looking for an escape from your daily life, or from this era altogether, and no one in their right mind could blame you for that. If you're of the belief that existing in one timeline is overrated, you've arrived at the right list.

Some of the shows here are action-packed dramas, while others take a more whimsical approach to history, but all of them are absolutely binge-worthy masterpieces. Whether you want to travel back hundreds of years or just a couple of decades, you'll find the perfect time travel show recommendation in the list below!

Looking for more recommendations of what to watch next?  We have a ton of them!  And if you're looking for more hand-picked recommendations based on shows you love,  we have those too .

Tom Hiddleston, Loki

Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU for short) already know that Loki ( Tom Hiddleston ) is a master trickster. He is literally the god of mischief, and for years his role in these movies was relegated to villain, nuisance, and foil to his brother Thor (Chris Hemsworth), but with Loki , he races through time and space in a series that puts him at the forefront of his own story. The series is a crime thriller that follows an alternate version of Loki who stole the Tesseract in  Avengers: Endgame , an event that basically broke reality. And, as these things go, it's now his responsibility to fix what he started. He's recruited by  Owen Wilson 's Mobius M. Mobius at the mysterious Time Variance Authority (TVA) to travel through history and correct the timeline he messed up. The series is the closest thing to putting an actual comic book on screen, full of madcap twists and turns, and seemingly self-contained, without having to place so much emphasis on setting up for future MCU installments. - Allison Picurro   [Watch on  Disney+ ]

Jodie Whittaker, Doctor Who

This one is a gimme, but we'd be remiss if we didn't mention Doctor Who , and honestly, if you haven't watched this long-running British sci-fi series already, we're not sure you can even call yourself a fan of time travel. Doctor Who follows a centuries-old alien known as the Doctor who has the ability to regenerate and take on different faces (hence the "long-running" bit). The Doctor, currently portrayed by Jodie Whittaker , takes unsuspecting ladies (and a few dudes) on ridiculous trips through time and space. Yep, this one checks the space travel box too! If you do choose to watch Doctor Who though, be warned -- you will end up in a fight with someone on Tumblr about which Doctor is the best. It's unavoidable.  [Watch on   HBO Max ]

Eric McCormack, MacKenzie Porter, Nesta Cooper, Jared Abrahamson, and Reilly Dolman, Travelers

Netflix's   Travelers , initially a co-production with Canada's Showcase, doesn't get even half the recognition it deserves for constructing impossibly complex time travel mythology that is still understandable and engaging for its audience, so we're recognizing it by putting it on this list. In the series, squads of elite soldiers travel to the present from hundreds of years in the future in order to change history and save the human race. If that doesn't sound cool enough, let us just add that they do so by sending their consciousnesses into the bodies of people about to die and assuming their identities. So. Freaking. Cool.  [Watch on  Netflix ]

Aaron Stanford and Amanda Schull, 12 Monkeys

Based on the 1995 movie with the same name, 12 Monkeys follows a time traveler who travels from 2043 to 2015 to stop a deadly virus from wiping out most of the planet's population. However, what starts out as a simple mission to the past turns into a mind-boggling journey through some of the biggest historical events of the 20th century and a pretty epic love story. This series really digs into the rules of time travel like causation and paradoxes, so while it may give you one of the aforementioned headaches, it's seriously worth it.  [Watch on  Hulu ]

DC's Legends of Tomorrow

Caity Lotz, Matt Ryan, Olivia Swan, Dominic Purcell and Nick Zano, DC Legends of Tomorrow 

In a sea of series that focus on saving the world with time travel, DC's Legends of Tomorrow easily could have gotten lost in the shuffle. Luckily, this CW series quickly established itself as one part nonsense, two parts pure fun, which set it apart from all the rest. If you're looking for a lighter series to help you while the days away, this one is definitely for you. The Legends team does end up saving the world quite a few times, but most of the time they just wind up turning themselves into singing puppets or fighting giant stuffed animals.  [Watch on  Netflix ]

If you're looking for something a little more romantic to binge-watch, Outlander is your ticket. This series follows Claire Beauchamp ( Caitriona Balfe ), an English WWII nurse who accidentally travels from 1945 back to 1743 while on a trip to Scotland with her husband ( Tobias Menzies ). Thrown into the past and desperate to get home, Claire finds herself embroiled in a Scottish uprising while slowly but surely falling in love with a ruggedly handsome redhead named Jamie Fraser ( Sam Heughan ).  [Watch on   Netflix ,  Starz ,  Hulu with Starz add-on ,  Amazon Prime with Starz add-on ]

Abigail Spencer, Malcolm Barrett, Matt Lanter; Timeless

Though Timeless was canceled twice , its devoted fanbase, known as Clockblockers, were so passionate that the NBC series ended up getting a two-hour series finale to wrap things up, so you won't have to worry about a cliffhanger ending. The show follows a history professor ( Abigail Spencer ), a soldier ( Matt Lanter ), and an engineer ( Malcolm Barrett ) who use a government-created time machine to track down a mysterious villain who is trying to rewrite American history. This series pairs the whimsy of DC's Legends of Tomorrow with the high stakes of 12 Monkeys , making it the perfect "middle of the road" option for time travel fans.  [Watch on  Hulu ]

Though it was canceled after just one season, we're still including Terra Nova on this list because DINOSAURS. Set in a dying world where overpopulation has humans on the brink of extinction, scientists have found a way to send people back in time to the Cretaceous Period where the air is breathable, food is plentiful, and the human race can start over. Unfortunately, it's also where dinosaurs are hungry for human flesh, so that's a problem. This show wasn't executed very well (hence its cancellation), but it's worth a watch anyway just to see hot people running away from raptors.  [Watch on  Amazon ]

Lost in Austen

Jemima Rooper, Elliot Cowan, Alex Kingston, Gemma Arterton, and Hugh Bonneville, Lost in Austen

When you're ready to take a break from all the action and adventure, Lost in Austen is a great time travel alternative. Rather than traveling through time per se, lead character Amanda Price ( Jemima Rooper ) travels into the world of her favorite novel, Pride & Prejudice . Caught up in the Georgian Era -- and the fictional lives of Mr. Darcy ( Elliot Cowan ) and the Bennet family -- Amanda unwittingly ends up as a character in the story she loves so dearly, and falling in love with Darcy herself.  [Watch on  BritBox ]

The critically acclaimed Netflix series  Dark  is not only a complicated time travel drama, it's also a German series, so get ready to turn those subtitles on! The series, which just wrapped up its third and final season, follows multiple generations of four interconnected families living in the German town of Winden (once you've finished the show, our family tree will help explain how everyone is connected ), which just so happens to be home to an underground tunnel and wormhole. Time travel and family drama make for an extremely complicated series (we don't recommend just having this one on in the background, folks), but once you get into it, you'll never look back.  [Watch on  Netflix ]

23 Slavery Movies on Hulu for Black History Month

• by Adeleke Adewale
• September 3, 2022

It’s crucial that we acknowledge all of history, even the more tragic episodes of some slavery movies on Hulu. Slavery is the most notorious crime and has had the worst effects on the human race.

Even when the horrific event has been discussed in the past, the public reacts with the most substantial resentment.

The world developed in a direction that rejected the ironic joys of slavery because of the great Abraham Lincoln’s unceasing efforts. Hollywood has been outspoken and steadfast in its opposition to slavery. 

To put an end to slavery forever, numerous successful projects and campaigns have been established. Here are some of the best slavery movies on Hulu.

Exodus: God and Kings (2014)

The forced enslavement of Hebrews by the ruling class and ancient Egyptian pharaohs was the subject of a biblical drama. The movie’s story is portrayed from the viewpoints of two significant biblical figures: Moses and his adopted brother Ramesses. 

When Moses’ startling admission that he is a Hebrew threatens Ramesses, the genuine son of Pharaoh Seti, he banishes his brother.

The Bible then describes Moses’ battle with the Egyptian monarch to free the enslaved people from enslavement and God’s possible manifestations that could bring justice to the cursed human race.

However, the performances by Joel Edgerton, Christian Bale, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, and Ben Kingsley make the movie worthwhile. The visual effects and production design also contribute to the film’s aesthetics. 

However, the film’s lengthy running time and poor screenwriting at times render it tedious and unpersuasive. This could cause the movie’s box office failure, as it only made $260 million over a 200 million dollar budget.

In Dubious Battle (2016)

Slavery can be based on race, status, or authority, among other things. The Great Depression compelled many workers to accept reduced pay, endangering their families’ livelihood. Their stories are told in the book “In Dubious Battle.”

 The workers are forced to work in the oppressive clenches and chains of upper-class management, which causes their agony. At the same time, the authoritarians and badge-wearing individuals impose their power on the helpless and underprivileged. 

The movie relates the tale of two workers who organize the nation’s first significant workers’ strike in protest of this cruelty, which ultimately results in the adoption of labor laws and labor unions, as well as workers’ ability to demand fair wages. This is one of the best slavery movies on Hulu.

12 Years Of Slavery (2013)

This devastating historical drama is based on Solomon Northup’s memoir of the same name. It follows Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black New Yorker who was abducted in Washington, D.C., and sold into slavery in 1841.

Amazing Gace (2006)

The man whose name has endured through history as being responsible for ending slavery in the United States is Abe Lincoln.

However, little is known about the person William Wilberforce’s struggle and political battle, the man who, through the passage of a law in the British parliament.

It brought about a similar transformation in Britain’s more sophisticated, conventional, and harsher society. 

Furthermore, the same man’s 20-year struggle against the British House of Commons to end slavery. And the slave trade in England and its colonies is the subject of the song “Amazing Grace.”

Unbroken (2014)

After Japan’s attack on the Pearl Harbor, tensions between the United States and Japan reached their peak during World War II.

Many young men joined the armed forces after the United States entered the war to support the more significant cause.

The true account of Louie Zamperini, an Olympic distance runner who joined the US Air Force as a bombardier, is followed in the film “Unbroken.” 

Zamperini was one of the many American troops held as POWs by the Japanese Imperial Army, where he was exposed to horrific atrocities such as forced servitude.

Unbroken is debatably a PoW movie rather than a “slavery movie.” Yet, it qualifies for the list since it depicts the horrifying atrocities in the Japanese PoW camps at the time. This is one of the best slavery movies on Hulu.

Free State of Jones (2016)

The Matthew McConaughey-led film “Free State of Jones” tells the tale of Confederate deserter Newton Knight, who fought against Abraham Lincoln’s US government during the American Civil War. Long before, the country and the US constitution agreed on the issue. 

Newton Knight brought free men and enslaved people together in one location when the States were engulfed in the conflict between freedom and slavery. 

The movie tells the story of Newton’s life during the war when he formed the “Free State of Jones” in Southeast Mississippi.

In this location, Blacks and Whites had equal rights, as well as his ongoing struggle against racial inequity in post-war and post-Lincoln America. This is one of the best slavery movies on Hulu.

If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

The romantic drama centers on Clementine “Tish” Rivers (KiKi Layne), a young woman whose partner is wrongfully detained for a crime he didn’t commit. It is based on James Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk. Before giving birth to their child, she tries to establish his innocence with the support of her family.

Do the Right Thing (1989)

Spike Lee, who also played Mookie, produced, wrote, and directed this comedy-drama. The film, set in a Brooklyn neighborhood with a mix of racial groups, centers on Buggin’ Out (Giancarlo Esposito), a local who feels aggrieved when a pizza owner refuses to feature Black talent in his establishment.

Belle (2013)

Dido Elizabeth Belle, an authentic African-British, is denied her free status in British society despite growing up in an aristocratic family in the true-life story “Belle.”

According to cinema theorists, “Belle” is a movie on the shortcomings of the then-racially, ethnically, and sex-suppressed British culture. 

The stories in the movie transport us to the heyday of the slave trade in Britain. The focus of “Belle” is racial prejudice and discrimination rather than the violence connected to slavery, which was itself ingrained in English culture by the actions of slavery and the slave trade ordered by the Empire against Spanish and African inhabitants.

The Birth of A Nation (2016)

It included Nat Turner. The slave uprising in Southampton County, Virginia, in 1831 was the impetus for the revolution that ultimately resulted in the emancipation proclamation. 

The movie follows his turbulent days and the ongoing struggle to free himself and millions of other enslaved people. Also, it had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and received particular kudos for its script, director, acting, and cinematography. 

Due to the alleged involvement of the movie’s director, Parker, in a sexual assault against a woman, she severely damaged its Oscar chances. Unfortunately, it was unable even to receive nominations. This is one of the best slavery movies on Hulu.

Ben- Hur (1959)

One of the most popular movies of all time , “Ben-Hur,” is undoubtedly on every other list but this one. It is an epic masterpiece. In the main, the movie tells the tale of Jewish-born merchant Judah Ben-Hur, his relationship with his family, and his conflicts with Messala, his adopted brother. 

Ben-Hur is forced to live a life as a slave on a galley after being unfairly deported by his brother, a Roman commander. While the main focus of the movie is Ben-attempts Hur to regain his innocence and rebuild his family and life, there is a sensitive scene in the movie that shows the lives of Jewish enslaved people who were forced to galleys by Roman tribunes and soldiers.

Due to the lack of available information about galley slaves in the 1950s, Ben-portrayal Hur’s of the Roman use of galley slaves garnered significant critical praise. At the time of the release, you only found the last narrative of galley slaves in translations of ancient documents that may have been altered throughout the years.

‘Ben-Hur,’ on the other hand, expertly depicted that period of history and made it a significant part of the whole movie, giving the main actor Charlton Heston enough time on screen to make his mark. This is one of the best slavery movies on Hulu. 

The Pianist (2002)

Roman Polanski, six, and a famous pianist by the name of Wladyslaw Szpilman were two of the few survivors of the millions of Jews who perished in the horrors of the Holocaust when the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939. Years later, the young man used the film “The Pianist,” a work of art, to introduce the tale of the pianist to the modern world.

The protagonist of “The Pianist” is Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew who was compelled to work as a slave after being saved from certain death by an officer just before his family was executed in front of him in the gas chambers. Szpilman tried to fight for his life until the war’s end, but he was never able to save his family. Instead, he toiled in several slave labor camps.

Sankofa (1993)

Few production companies have approached the subject of slavery with the same ruthless honesty as “Sankofa.” The phrase, “go back, look for, and receive wisdom, power, and hope,” is borrowed from the Ghanian Akan language. 

The movie is a symbolic attempt to encourage people of African heritage to rediscover and embrace their African roots and culture. The movie’s premise, which takes the idea of time travel and sends a wealthy model back in time when she is easily captured, reflects this. 

Furthermore, A bird and the chanting and drumming of a Divine Drummer represent the film’s captivating premise. This is one of the best slavery movies on Hulu.

I Am Slave (2010)

While researching this piece, I came across this movie, which has received little attention from critics and viewers alike and has received no noteworthy reviews or media coverage. However, the narrative and the real-life motivation demonstrate how important it is to watch and appreciate this movie and the main character’s narrative.

Furthermore, Malia is a courageous and intimidating woman from a strong Sudanese tribe, where her father served as the chief. A group of mujaheddin, however, kidnaps her and sells her as a slave in the British slave trade, subjecting her to years of servitude, prejudice, brutality, and unpaid work in the households that “bought” her.

Roots (1977)

The only drawback is that this one isn’t a movie. A miniseries it is. Even so, it’s good. The project received a record 37 Emmy nominations and went on to win nine prizes. Its conclusion still has the third-best Nelsen ratings in television history, which were unheard-of. 

LeVar Burton played Kunta Kine, a teenage enslaved person who has huge goals, one of which is to be set free, in the film. It’s a genuine story of Alex Haley’s horrible bondage experiences. 

The miniseries is one of the better ones since the writers chose to have the script’s action be volatile to capture the zeitgeist correctly. This is one of the best slavery movies on Hulu.

13th (2016)

There have been numerous films made about this topic by various film industries around the world. Still, if you want a fundamental understanding of slavery’s history and how it is being practiced in multiple forms, “13th” is the movie for you.

The documentary film “13th” takes its name from the infamous “Thirteenth Amendment” of the American constitution, which forcibly outlawed slavery. It depicts the origin of slavery and how it has evolved into various virtual and contemporary forms over time, ultimately leading to racial prejudice, crimes motivated by religious and caste differences, and societal divisions.

Tamango (1958)

This one, however, depicts slavery in a slightly warped and unique manner. The first actress of color to be nominated for an Academy Award, Dorothy Dandridge, starred in it. The story takes place on a ship captained by Captain Reiker and his bound crew, and the captain’s slave mistress Aiche was also among its passengers. 

One enslaved person, Tamango, plots a rebellion and kidnaps Aiche to carry it out. Tamango begs Aiche to go as Reiker makes a cannon threat to fire them all. However, she doesn’t, and Reiker, true to his word, disbands the group and puts a stop to their songs of emancipation. 

Furthermore, Reiker and Aiche’s love scenes weren’t required, but the movie is still worth seeing because it firmly stands by its central idea. This is one of the best slavery movies on Hulu.

Amistad (1997)

You anticipate an excellent sensation whenever Steven Spielberg takes to the camera. He is a brilliant raconteur because of the sympathetic simplicity of his storytelling. Also, the historical drama “Amistad” is based on the events in 1839 on the slave ship La Amistad. 

The enslaved people from the Mende tribe who were traveling could seize command of the ship and kidnap their original captors to set out for freedom. Also, you curtailed their aspirations, and the US troops quickly conquered them. Also, the Supreme Court rendered a decision on the matter. You won’t soon forget the captivating experience of watching the film.

Gone With the Wind (1939)

Although not directly addressed, slavery is an essential and symbolic theme in the movie. The pinnacle of a historical-romance film, “Gone With the Wind,” is arguably one of the most recognizable films of all time. Despite criticism for celebrating slavery through historical revisionism, it has been acknowledged as changing how African-Americans are portrayed in movies.

The movie chronicles two hazardous people on their beautiful journey together, a cunning woman and a renegade outcast man. The film deftly examines the range of emotions that lingered in the surroundings of the besotted state at the time, set against the backdrop of the American Civil War and the chaotic time in the South. Love, as they say, overcomes all. This is one of the best slavery movies on Hulu. 

Glory (1989)

This movie on the list is not the first to focus on the American Civil War. But in a very different situation. Except for the officers, who are white, “Glory” follows one of the Union army’s very first military regiments made up entirely of African-Americans. 

The story is portrayed from the viewpoint of Colonel Shaw, the white battalion leader, and his everlasting bond with his brave soldiers. The covey is cherished for its bravery displayed at Fort Wagner.

Five Academy Awards were given out for the film, three of which went to the charismatic Denzel Washington. Both crowds and critics gave it excellent marks.

Django Unchained (2012)

Oh, now. This is not the stereotypical narrative where Black people endure suffering in quiet while waiting for the battle to end. No, sir. This is the one where they use a.22 magnum shotgun to shoot their supposed superiors in the head. 

The human body is reduced to stinking, repulsive chunks of meat in Quentin Tarantino’s action-packed movie. The narrative centers on the liberation of Django from his chains by Dr. Schultz, a liberal-humble German dentist. 

Furthermore, Django’s life takes on a new direction and purpose when the latter offers to join him in his campaign to kill evil white men: to reconcile with Broomhilda. When they locate her, they must contend with a suspicious plantation owner who develops feelings for Django.

Lincoln (2012)

There is more to Spielberg’s great movie than meets the eye regarding the polarized Congress and the President’s momentous emancipation proclamation.

The movie follows the entire political digression that resulted from the amendment, focusing on Lincoln and his unsettling images of the coming conflict. 

A soulful background score enhances “Lincoln’s” rich narrative and flawless direction, making it a unique breed of movie. It standout among the best slavery movies on Hulu.

The Wiz (1979)

This entertaining spin on the classic will appeal to The Wizard of Oz fans. Dorothy, a Harlem teacher who is suddenly transported to the fantastical country of Oz, is portrayed by a teenage Diana Ross.

She leaves to meet the Wiz (Richard Pryor), the only person who can assist her in returning home after she unintentionally kills the Wicked Witch of the East. Other stars include Ted Ross, Nipsey Russell, and Michael Jackson.

Adeleke Adewale

Hi. I am Adeleke Abd-Rahman Adewale, a graduate of Ladoke Akintola university of technology, Nigeria. I am a content writer that writes on a wide range of topics, including sports, tech, fashion, health, Garden, games, and many more. I am a content writer @ Krafty Sprouts Media, LLC.

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The Sci-Fi Time Travel Series Everyone Is Binging On Hulu

Time travel is one of the most popular storytelling devices in the modern age of filmmaking. Back to the Future , Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure , Avengers: Endgame, and even a little movie called Looper  all found enormous success over the years, by shifting protagonists backwards or forwards in time. But in some cases, it's not the hero who travels in time, but someone else: for instance, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) didn't travel to the future in The Terminator , but instead, the future came to her — in the form of an Arnold Scharzenegger-shaped robot meant to kill her.

There's a similar narrative thread running through a certain  Seth Rogen -produced show on Hulu — which is right now gaining a lot of eyes — and that's  Future Man . The series combines elements of The Terminator with another, lesser known eighties classic,  The Last Starfighter,  crafting a story that involves a gamer whose high score qualifies him to become a fighter pilot in an intergalactic future war.

Yes, you read that right: In Future Man,  that gamer — Josh Futterman, played by Josh Hutcherson, from The Hunger Games –  beats the seemingly unbeatable game Biotic Wars, only to discover that the game is based on a very real, dystopian future that he must now save in real life.

A cast worth traveling in time (with terrible results) for

Future Man has a pretty great pedigree behind it. In addition to Seth Rogen executive producing and guest starring, as well as Josh Hutcherson leading, there is a ton of fantastic talent involved. Most notably, the first season surrounds the poor life choices of a scientist named Doctor Elias Kronish, played by none other than legendary sci-fi and voice actor Keith David ( They Live , Gargoyles ). Meanwhile, the actors playing Josh's parents are none other than Ed Begley Jr. ( The Accidental Tourist, Best in Show ) and the late, great Glenne Headly (who famously out hustles the hustlers in the Frank Oz classic Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) .

Without giving too much of the story away, Future Man cribs from more than just The Terminator and The Last Starfighter . Very notably, it also borrows from Back to the Future, what with our heroes traveling backwards in time, even making some direct references to the Michael J. Fox classic. Of course, in this case, they attempt to repair a mistake which will inevitably cause the end of the world with hilarious (and terrible) results.

Future Man  wrapped up its run of three seasons on Hulu in 2020. It is a half-hour comedy, making it very easy to binge-watch. So if you're looking for the sort of time hijinks story Seth Rogen would make, well, Future Man is probably the show for you.

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A Hulu docuseries based on the The New York Times' 1619 Project is on the way

The pulitzer-winning project examined the history of slavery in the us..

Hulu is making a documentary series based on The 1619 Project , a New York Times series that explored the history of slavery in the United States and its enduring impact on American life. Roger Ross Williams, who was the first African American director to win an Oscar , will produce the docuseries and direct the first episode. Peabody Award-winning journalist and producer Shoshana Guy will act as showrunner.

Nikole Hannah-Jones, the project's creator and a New York Times writer, won a Pulitzer Prize for her introductory essay in the series. The 1619 Project began publication in August 2019 and it included articles, poems, fiction, live events and a podcast. It marked the 400th anniversary of the first ships carrying enslaved Africans arriving in what would become the United States.

"The 1619 Project is an essential reframing of American history,” Williams said in a statement . “Our most cherished ideals and achievements cannot be understood without acknowledging both systemic racism and the contributions of Black Americans. And this isn’t just about the past — Black people are still fighting against both the legacy of this racism and its current incarnation."

The Times teamed up with Lionsgate and Oprah Winfrey last year to create films, TV shows and other ventures based on The 1619 Project. It's not yet clear when Hulu's docuseries will premiere.

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The Sci-Fi Mind-Bender On Hulu Is The Most Original Time Travel Movie In Years

Posted: February 16, 2024 | Last updated: February 16, 2024

For sci-fi fans, there’s something ironic about time travel movies: after you watch enough of them, you may feel caught in your own time loop because all of the films feel more or less the same. That’s why it’s always special to discover such a movie that feels fresh and original, and if you’ve been on the lookout for a time travel movie that feels completely innovative, you’re in luck. Aporia is now streaming on Hulu, and its fresh take on someone turning back the clock is one that will keep you riveted from beginning to end.

Time Travel, As Always, Yields Mixed Results

What is Aporia about, exactly? Without giving too many of its twists and turns away, this is a movie about a woman grieving the death of her husband. He was killed by a drunk driver, but through the magic of time travel, she has the opportunity to save his life–a noble intention that, as you might expect, unleashes some seriously unintended consequences for herself and many others.

Trading One Life For Another

What makes Aporia’s take on time travel feel so fresh, though? Unlike most other science fiction films where characters attempt to alter the past, the grieving widow is unable to personally transport herself back through the veil of years. Instead, she has the opportunity to send a subatomic particle backwards to a specific point in time, and if that particle should appear inside somebody, they will instantly die.

For all intents and purposes, this gives her an opportunity to send a sci-fi bullet into the past and kill the man who killed her husband before he drunkenly steps behind the wheel. That automatically makes Aporia much darker than your typical time travel movie, but by the time she’s ready to pull the trigger, it’s hard not to sympathize with her actions. Once we see that the drunk driver both feels no remorse and experiences no major legal consequences for his fatally negligent actions, it’s clear that zapping him out of the timestream may be the closest thing the widow gets to seeing justice.

Familiar Faces To Sci-Fi Fans

We keep comparing Aporia to other sci-fi movies, and if you’re a fan of the genre, you’re definitely going to love the cast. The widow is played by Judy Greer, someone known for appearing in sci-fi blockbusters like Ant-Man, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (voice only), and many more. The dead husband she hopes to save is played by Edi Gathegi, someone known for appearing in killer sci-fi show For All Mankind, played the mutant Darwin in X-Men: First Class, and who will appear next year in Superman: Legacy, James Gunn’s inaugural film meant to kick off the new DCU.

A Critical Darling

In case you were wondering, we’re not the only ones who instantly fell in love with Aporia. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently has a critical rating of 89 percent, a score which is that much more impressive when you consider how critics often can’t wrap their minds around science fiction. In this case, critics specifically praised Aporia for effortlessly blending its hard sci-fi premise with understandably human motivations and almost heartbreakingly emotional performances.

See For Yourself How Original Aporia Is

Once you experience Aporia, the only downside is that you’ll wish you could travel back in time and watch it again for the very first time. It’s currently available to stream on Hulu, and we’re confident that once you stream it, this film will blow you away. On the off chance that it doesn’t, however, we’re going to need you to promise not to blow us away with a subatomic particle…at least, not until we’ve watched Madame Web and are finally ready to die before the next crappy Sony superhero movie is announced.

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11 of the best time travel movies to watch on streaming

From hard sci-fi to buds in hot tubs

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Thirty years after their last time travel adventure, Bill and Ted are back in their most excellent journey yet. Bill and Ted Face the Music , starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter in their iconic slacker-metalhead roles, is out in theaters and on VOD now.

As a genre, time-travel movies can encompass a lot of different styles. Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is a silly, fluffy time-jumping adventure, which stands in stark juxtaposition to the hard sci-fi 12 Monkeys or the melancholy, contemplative About Time . What they all have in common is time travel as a major plot point, whether the creators do their best to explain the science or just kind of hand wave. (A time travel movie is different from a time loop movie, though, which is why you won’t find Groundhog Day , Happy Death Day , or Palm Springs — all excellent films — on this list.)

Below, we’ve rounded up 11 of our favorite time travel narratives you can watch on streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Max right now. Party on, dudes.

If you can stomach a narrative about a viral pandemic knocking out most of humanity, Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys is a compelling adaptation of Chris Marker’s legendary short film, La Jetée (which you can stream on Criterion Channel ). The feature remake is mostly notable for its incredible performances — Bruce Willis! Christopher Plummer! An Oscar nomination for Brad Pitt! Willis stars as James Cole, one of the pandemic’s survivors, who’s sent back to 1996 to track down the origins of virus. He overshoots and ends up in 1990, where he’s involuntarily committed to a mental institution. Pitt plays his fellow inmate who, Cole discovers back in the future, may or may not be responsible for the virus.

As far as time travel movies go, 12 Monkeys is firmly in the grim, twist-y, hard sci-fi camp. If that’s your thing, it’s an excellent watch.

12 Monkeys is streaming on HBO Max .

All of the marketing around About Time made it seem like a fun, fluffy rom-com in which Domhnall Gleeson uses his magical time traveling abilities to woo Rachel McAdams. But master of the British rom-com, Richard Curtis ( Love Actually , Bridget Jones’ Diary , Knotting Hill , Four Weddings and a Funeral ), makes About Time a lot deeper. I won’t spoil the twist that throws a wrench into the time travel mechanics, but I’ll just say that it’s more about the anxieties of parenthood than getting a fairy tale ending.

About Time is streaming on Netflix .

Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame satisfyingly wraps up its core characters arcs and made room for the next chapter while also balancing humor, emotional weight, and huge choreographed set pieces. It also features a surprisingly well executed time travel storyline! If you haven’t seen this one since last summer, dive back into its mind-bending middle act.

Avengers: Endgame is streaming on Disney Plus .

Back to the Future trilogy

The story of Marty McFly’s (Michael J. Fox) travels through time in a souped-up DeLorean, aided by his friend Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), is a classic for good reason. The first movie, in which Marty has to make sure his parents fall in love lest he be erased from existence, is always a hit, but it’s especially fun to revisit Back to the Future Part II just to see what people in 1989 thought 2015 would look like.

Back to the Future , Back to the Future Part II, and Back to the Future Part III are streaming on Netflix .

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure was one of those movies that, if you grew up in the ’90s or early 2000s, you’d catch in bits and pieces because it aired constantly on cable. The format was perfect for that kind of disjointed viewing, since it mostly consists of silly scenes in which Bill and Ted get into historical hijinks strung together to form a tiny thread of narrative. But what Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure lacks in plot, it makes up for in heart. The core ethos of Bill and Ted is “Be excellent to each other,” a philosophy that the boys consistently embody. It’s just nice, okay ?

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is streaming on Starz .

Hot Tub Time Machine

If you’re the type of person who hears a title like Hot Tub Time Machine and thinks, “Ugh, that sounds stupid,” Hot Tub Time Machine is probably not for you. But if you’re the type of person who hears a title like Hot Tub Time Machine and thinks, “Hell yeah, that sounds stupid,” you’re gonna have a good time.

Hot Tub Time Machine is streaming on Hulu with Live TV .

If you only know Rian Johnson from Star Wars: The Last Jedi and/or Knives Out , it’s worth going back through his filmography before he helmed one of the biggest franchises in the world. Looper , his last film before The Last Jedi, stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis as two different versions of the same man, a time-traveling assassin, known as a “looper,” named Joe. It’s both a compelling time travel narrative and a slick action movie with neat visual effects. In the wise words of Elijah Wood, long live Rian Johnson .

Looper is streaming on FuboTV .

Safety Not Guaranteed

Before he helmed the Jurassic World franchise, gave us the fascinating flop that is The Book of Henry , and was booted from Star Wars: Episode 9, Colin Trevorrow directed Safety Not Guaranteed. The indie comedy stars Mark Duplass as Kenneth, a paranoid, lonely guy who places a classified ad looking for a partner to join him on a time travel mission. He finds that partner in Darius (Aubrey Plaza) who, unbeknownst to him, is a newspaper intern working on a story about him. Duplass excels at playing these kind of weirdos who live on the border between sad and creepy, and it’s an energy that works well with Plaza’s disaffected schtick. Whether or not Kenneth actually built a working time machine is simultaneously the key to the story and also not really the point, and Trevorrow leaves us hanging until the very end.

Safety Not Guaranteed is streaming on Netflix .

Years before directing his breakout English-language feature Colossal with Anne Hathaway, Spanish filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo made this thriller about a man who uses a short-span time travel device to discover the identity of a masked attacker. Small-scale and twisty, Timecrimes revels in disorientation and has the dark comedic edge that has come to devine Vigalondo’s films. A whodunnit for the seasoned time-travel movie-watcher.

Timecrimes is streaming for free on Tubi TV with ads.

Hulu/Disney Plus bundle

Prices taken at time of publishing.

Disney is offering a bundle combining its three streaming services — Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus — for $12.99/month.

• $13 at Disney Plus

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