I've seen the film, thought it was good overall, but some aspects were heavy-handed. Inevitably, at times the filmmakers let their present perspective affect the way they portrayed the past.

One moment I thought was weak was when they had a White overseer taunting slaves with the song "Run, N*****, Run." It was my distinct impression that, while I believe this was a song often sung by Black slaves among themselves as a form of encouragement or warning, the filmmakers thought it was a song sung by vicious and racists White people to terrorize slaves. I think the filmmakers became aware of the existence of the song and decided to include it because they *thought* it would enhance the callous persona of the overseers. They no doubt modeled it from the "hillbilly" recording by the Skillet Lickers, and perhaps envisioned a vibe of redneck racists entertaining themselves singing racial slurs. Knowing better about the song, the seen fell flat for me.

Northup's book contains some indication of songs, including a sort of patting juba scene (if I remember correctly) with what seems to be the antecedent to the chanty "Hog-eye Man." This music was overlooked, instead creating a subtle impression that the music of Black people was all spiritual kind of stuff.