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

The prisoners are chained among freight and rats in the hold; once Burch and Radburn leave, Clemens and Eliza cry.

Scene 46 of 211 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 31 min into a 2:22 film

The story so farBefore scene 46

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.
Scene 30
Solomon is drugged and abducted in New York, abruptly ending his free life and beginning his captivity.
Scene 31
After Solomon is drugged and abducted in scene 30, he wakes in chains and discovers that he has been stolen from his free life.
Just before
Scene 43
Burch cuffs the prisoners together and beats John until he stops insisting his master will pay his debt and reclaim him.
Scene 44
Burch and Radburn move the prisoners through deserted streets to a waiting steamboat.
Scene 45
The crew watches as Burch’s captives are hurried aboard the Orleans without intervening.
Scene 46
This scene

46INT. ORLEANS/HOLD - NIGHT

The slaves are hustled down into a dark, dank hold among barrels and boxes of freight...and RATS, where they are chained to the hull of the ship. Burch comes around and "checks" the chains; makes sure they are all secure and locked. Satisfied, he heads up out of the hold. Radburn follows. Alone in the dark in the hold, Clemens Ray cries, as does Eliza.