Jena Malone Talks Antebellum, Policing, Childhood, And More

For anyone who thinks Antebellum is too on the nose, there are pundits right now equivocating on slavery. If we've lost the baseline agreement that slavery was horrible, it's more important than ever to tell these stories.

There's a space where films are these myth makers, right? They help us alchemize our experience here on this planet. The biggest gift for me, from having a child, is realizing how deeply they use their imagination to alchemize humanity. Sometimes they're not even being empathetical to themselves, but then they create a story that helps them understand how they fit into that story. Imagination is one of the most powerful things that we own and possess. It can change the legislative government. It's even in children's books. It's starting there. And these are just stories. They're just simple stories. It helps us alchemize the human experience. Sometimes we need to turn our fear into a villain to understand it. And sometimes we need help turning our courage into a heroic event. Because sometimes it doesn't feel so courageous all to ourselves, you know? I think the reason why Antebellum is so important, right now, it's sort of poetic in every single way. It fits so perfectly for this watershed moment that we're all experiencing, but also films are bridgework. It helps us get from one place to another. I think this is such an important time to have a very clear, well-understood bridge from our past to where we are now. Even just in the examination of slavery, I love that we're finally talking about how the police system, and the criminal justice system were so tied to the beginning –

It's how it started! It's where they came from.

Exactly. And those ideologies built these systems that we're still interacting with, funding, and supporting today.

This movie gets described a lot, from the first time it was announced even, as a "surprise horror film." How do you, as someone in the movie, talk about a movie like that? And how would you recommend those of us who want to tell our friends about it describe the movie? How do you navigate that?

I don't know. I find it easier to talk about a psychological thriller for me, just in that sense, because sometimes I find calling something a horror film, particularly in this when you're talking about chattel slavery and the Antebellum South, and it was already such a horror show. I feel like it's not enough to just call it "horror" sometimes, you know? It's much more in the sort of psychological thriller in that you don't know what's happening. But those are the best movies! I mean, I love it when someone's like, "I can't tell you, just watch it." That's kind of the best way to describe this.

"Go into this cold. Don't let anyone tell you anything."

Yeah, don't even watch the trailer. But I do think I can watch this again, even after knowing what happens, and still find interesting things, you know what I mean? It's a good story. It's just good filmmaking. And that's a pleasure no matter whether you've read the whole script or it's completely new to you.

Oh, yeah. From The Sixth Sense to Get Out, or even The Avengers films, knowing the secrets doesn't make it any less incredible. Sometimes, it even makes it more fun to watch.

It makes it [even] more enjoyable, I think.