12 Years a Slave · written by John Ridley and Steve McQueen · 2013

While Solomon picks cotton, Epps watches him beside Armsby; the two men’s prolonged conversation makes Solomon uneasy.

Scene 192 of 211 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 2:01 into a 2:22 film

The story so farBefore scene 192

After being kidnapped from New York and sold into slavery, Solomon Northup uses his skills and carefully placed trust to survive and seek a way back to his family.

Scenes 1–29
Solomon lives freely in Saratoga as a husband, father, worker, and musician.
Scenes 30–65
Kidnapped and held under the imposed name Platt, Solomon must preserve his life and identity.
Scenes 66–123
He enters plantation life under Ford, passes through Tibeats’s violence and the near-lynching, and is transferred to Epps.
Scene 124
Solomon is transferred to Epps’s plantation and placed among Patsey and the enslaved workers, opening the harsher final plantation phase.
Just before
Scene 189
Solomon crosses the dark plantation to the lantern-lit cabin where Armsby invites him inside.
Scene 190
Solomon offers Armsby all his savings to secretly post a letter to New York; Armsby agrees and sets a two-day meeting to receive it.
Scene 191
Solomon lies awake after committing himself to the letter plan, knowing he cannot turn back.
Scene 192
This scene

192EXT. EPPS'S PLANTATION/COTTON FIELD - DAY

Solomon and the slaves pick cotton. Armsby is conspicuously NOT laboring in the field. As Solomon works he is watched by Epps. Watched more than he normally is. For a moment it seems it might just be a matter of perspective; Solomon's unease over his actions. But soon Epps is joined by Armsby. The two men stand and talk, their looks locked toward Solomon.

Whatever it is that is occurring between them continues for a long, long moment. But Epps makes no move toward Solomon. Solomon continues with his work.