In pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is a skilled violinist and a respected figure in his community. His comfortable and free life takes an unexpected turn when he is deceived by two men offering him a lucrative job opportunity in Washington, D.C. Once there, Northup is drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery in the South under the pretense that he is a runaway slave from Georgia. Stripped of his identity and renamed "Platt," he is transported to Louisiana, where he is sold to a plantation owner, faced with the brutal realities of slavery.

Northup struggles to survive and maintain his dignity in the face of relentless cruelty. He endures hard labor and inhumane treatment from slave owners and overseers. Throughout his harrowing ordeal, he witnesses the suffering and degradation of his fellow slaves, making several failed attempts to prove his free status. As the days turn into years, Northup's hope for freedom diminishes, but his desire to reunite with his family never fades. Against all odds, he must keep his intelligence and courage alive to endure the unimaginable and find a way back to his life and family.