It’s too bad about Emancipation. Currently running on Apple TV+, it’s based on the story behind the infamous 1863 photograph “The Scourged Back,” displaying the horrifying skein of raised welts covering the back of a slave who became known as “Whipped Peter.” (He may have actually been named Gordon, but this movie has another slave named Gordon, played by Gilbert Owuor, who makes a desperate run for freedom at the same time as Peter.)

The shocking photograph was circulated by Union abolitionists to counter Confederate claims that slaves were treated well in the South, and it could have been the foundation of an illuminating movie. But writer Bill Collage (Assassin’s Creed, The Transporter Refueled) and director Anton Fuqua (The Equalizer franchise, Training Day) opted to turn the film into a bizarre combination of action movie, historical drama, and star vehicle for Will Smith.