Carry Me Home: A Remember America Film

Actress Karen Abercrombie is mesmerizing here as the 19th-century former slave Harriet Tubman, who is seen during the period when she orchestrated, at considerable personal peril, the escapes of over 300 slaves through the Underground Railroad. Carry Me Home is a short drama centering on the fact-based 1860 flight of Maria Ennals (Lindsey Aeriel Grimble), her husband Stephen (Joel Ashur), and their newborn baby. A visually powerful film that captures the casual cruelty of slave treatment with horrifying details tucked into the backgrounds of various scenes, the film recreates the experience of the Underground Railroad, with Tubman contacting white abolitionists who shelter fleeing slaves in their homes before the fugitives are able to move on at night. Writer-director Josh Henry emphasizes the harsh physical conditions that escaped slaves (and Tubman herself) endured on these runs (terrified for her child’s safety, Maria sometimes balks at Tubman’s commands, which include having to wade waist-level through a freezing river with the infant in her arms). The ongoing tensions, close-calls, and secret-agent action effectively bring viewers into the courageous work of the remarkable Tubman. Recommended. Aud: J, H, C, P. (T. Keogh)