The undeniable front-runner of this year’s Sundance awards ceremony was the brutal and electrifying slave drama The Birth of a Nation. Winning both the audience award and grand jury prize, the film repurposes the title of D.W. Griffith’s divisive racial tale and tells the cradle-to-grave story of Nat Turner and his 1831 slave revolt that ended in the massacre of many white plantation owners and their families.

Nate Parker is the mastermind behind The Birth of a Nation, an actor mostly known for small character roles in movies like Beyond the Lights, Arbitrage and Non-Stop. He cut back on acting for seven years to primarily focus on putting this film together the right way, which includes him directing, co-writing, producing and even taking on the lead role of Turner himself. All of that hard work is evident on screen and even before the lights went down at the film’s first Sundance screening, the mood in the air was electrifying. Audiences could sense something special was in store and those thoughts were confirmed once the movie ended and the lights came back on.

The film begins with Turner as a young boy in antebellum Virginia, surrounded by slave culture and a curious mind. That curiosity catches the eye of one of his masters, who encourages him to read and expand his vocabulary with the caveat that the only book fit for a slave is the Bible. Taking this bittersweet remark to heart, young Turner begins to split his time between picking cotton in the fields and educating himself with scripture. Before long, he has transitioned into a grown man, now played by Nate Parker, and uses his intelligence and faith to alleviate his oppressed brothers and sisters.

Turner has some sway with his white master Samuel (Armie Hammer), but that power is put to the test when the family plantation undergoes difficult financial times and the house slaves are treated worse than ever. This change in environment in addition to some disturbing scenes at neighboring plantations are what cause Turner to wake up to a new reality and begin the process of turning against his authoritarians.

The Birth of a Nation is a very good movie about a great subject, and director Nate Parker has created a work of art that will stand the tests of time. Comparisons to similar movies like 12 Years A Slave and even Django Unchained are inevitable, but this film, while not as accomplished as those two, is still strong enough to stand on its own. At almost two hours in length, the film takes its time to get to its climax and those last 30 minutes are where the film’s beating heart lay. There is a montage toward the end that uses a Nina Simone cover of Strange Fruit which rips your heart out and announces Parker as a filmmaking force to be reckoned with. I wouldn’t be surprised if upon release the studio used this music to drive their campaign toward awards season.

Rating: B+

The Birth of a Nation will be released by Fox Searchlight sometime in 2016.