The British direction Steve McQueen (“Hunger”, “Shame”) found a role for Michael Fassbender in his latest. And Brad Pitt. And Paul Giamatti and the little girl from “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”
But the star, the man in the title role, is Chiwetel Ejiofor, in a performance that feels like an Oscar nomination — just by description. He’s a free black, educated man who was nabbed in the North and sold into slavery. A true story. “12 Years a Slave” opens in late October.