This movie supports my belief that it is better to see a movie first, then read the book it is based on. Otherwise, if you have already read the book you are bound to be disappointed by the changes, alterations, omissions, and other discrepancies that directors are forced to make within the time constraints of a typical movie. Even a mini-series does not allow time to include all the valuable elements of the printed story. The book "12 Years a Slave" provided many more details about slave life and relationships than the movie could. And in the movie some key events, such as when Solomon Northrup convinced Bass, the traveling carpenter, to alert his friends in New York State that he had been kidnapped and kept in bondage for 12 years, were abbreviated and presented with less depth than in the book. Also, I must confessthat I didn't fully understand Solomon's relationship to his various masters, even in the book. He was apparently transferred from one to another to settle a debt but it was never clear to me how that worked. In the book, he remembered fondly his first "owner," Mr. Ford (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) as basically a good man trapped in an evil established social institution. However, he believed his cruel master, Epps (played by Michael Fassbender), deserved all the torments that Hell had waiting for him. My advice to anyone who has only seen the movie is to be sure to read the book. It will increase your appreciation of Solomon Northrup tenfold -- or more.