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

Days later, Solomon and Clemens lie covered in smallpox sores, feverish and nearly blinded by pain amid the ward’s cries.

Scene 80 of 211 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 49 min into a 2:22 film

The story so farBefore scene 80

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.
Just before
Scene 77
At Charity Hospital, the arrivals see carpenters making rows of coffins behind the building.
Scene 78
The group enters a hospital that sounds and feels more like a place for dying than recovery.
Scene 79
In a crowded, unsanitary ward, Black patients with smallpox are stripped, given gowns, and surrounded by sparse staff as a bell tolls.
Scene 80
This scene

80INT. HOSPITAL/PATIENTS WARD - LATER

A couple of days have passed. Solomon lays in bed next to Clemens Ray. We are at the height of Solomon's illness. As with Robert, he is a hideous sight. There are pustules all over is body, and Clemens as well. Solomon is nearly blind with pain and suffering. His cries are pitiable, and blend with the continual wail that comes from the room.