Janelle Monáe gets seriously ghosted in the new trailer for “Antebellum.”
Directed by Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz — who produced Jordan Peele’s horror stories “Get Out” and “Us” — the hush-hush chiller features 33-year-old Monáe as author Veronica Henley, who is “trapped in a horrifying reality and must uncover the mind-bending mystery before it’s too late,” according to Lionsgate’s outline of the film.
The one-minute clip released Thursday toggles between scenes of a Civil War-era black woman frantically running from Confederate officers, plantation workers glimpsing a plane in the sky and Monáe’s Henley bonding with friends and family — and being haunted by ghostly children in a hotel.
Lionsgate also released a poster image depicting a monarch butterfly with blood streaming down the white wall behind it. The film co-stars Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe (“Precious,” “Empire”), Marque Richardson II, Eric Lang, Jack Huston, Kiersey Clemons, Tongayi Chirisa, Rob Aramayo, Lily Cowles, and Jena Malone.
Monáe, a Grammy-nominated singer whose previous movie stints include Disney’s new remake of “Lady and the Tramp” and 2016’s Oscar-nominated “Hidden Figures,” most recently played a boardinghouse owner in “Harriet,” the acclaimed biopic about Underground Railroad savior Harriet Tubman, starring Cynthia Erivo in the title role.
“Antebellum” opens on April 24, 2020.
