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Beloved is a 1998 American gothic psychological horror drama film directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, and Thandiwe Newton. Based on Toni Morrison's 1987 novel of the same name, the plot centers on a formerly enslaved person after the American Civil War, her haunting by a poltergeist, and the visitation of her reincarnated daughter. This was the first film produced by Harpo Films. Beloved received an Oscar nomination for Best Costume Design for Colleen Atwood. The film garnered mostly positive reviews, and both Danny Glover and Kimberly Elise received praise for their performances.

Sethe is a former slave living on the outskirts of Cincinnati, Ohio shortly after the Civil War. An angry poltergeist residing in the family home terrorizes her and her three children, causing two of them to run away forever. Eight years later, Sethe lives alone with her daughter, Denver. Paul D, an old friend from Sweet Home, the plantation Sethe had escaped from years earlier, finds her home and drives off the angry spirit that inhabits it. Afterwards, he proposes he stay and Sethe responds favorably. Shortly after Paul D. moves in, a clean young woman named Beloved, who appears to have a cognitive delay, finds her way into Sethe's yard, and Sethe takes her in. Denver is initially happy to have Beloved around, but learns that she is Sethe's reincarnated daughter. Nonetheless, she chooses not to tell Beloved's origins to Sethe. One night, Beloved, aware that Paul D dislikes her, immobilizes him with a spell, rapes him. He resolves to tell Sethe what happened, but instead asks her to have a baby with him. When Stamp Paid, a co worker of Paul D who has known her for many years, learns of Paul D's plans for a family with Sethe, he pulls a newspaper clipping featuring Sethe and tells her story to the illiterate Paul D.

Years ago, Sethe was raped by the nephews of Schoolteacher, the owner of Sweet Home. She complained to Mrs. Garner, his sister in law, who confronted him. In retaliation, Schoolteacher and his nephews brutally whipped Sethe, leaving a "tree" of keloid scars on her back. Heavily pregnant with her fourth child, Sethe planned to escape. Her other children were sent off earlier to live with Baby Suggs, her mother in law, but Sethe stayed behind to look for her husband, Halle. She was assaulted while searching for him in the barn. The Schoolteacher's nephews held her down, raped her, and forcibly took her breast milk. When Halle failed to appear, Sethe ran off alone. She crossed paths with Amy Denver, a white girl who treated her injuries and delivered her child, whom she named after her. Sethe eventually reached Baby Suggs' home, but her initial happiness was short lived when Schoolteacher came to claim Sethe and her children. In desperation, Sethe slit her older daughter's throat, and attempted to kill her other children. Stamp Paid managed to stop her and the disgusted Schoolteacher departed. Sethe is detained for an unknown amount of time, and it is later revealed she was saved from hanging by the prominent Cincinnati family the Bodwins, who knew Baby Suggs. Paul D, horrified by the revelation and suddenly understanding the origin of the poltergeist, confronts Sethe. She unapologetically justifies herself, insisting her children are better off dead than enslaved. Paul D. departs shortly thereafter in protest. Afterwards, Sethe realizes that Beloved is the reincarnation of her dead daughter. Elated yet guilty, Sethe spoils Beloved with elaborate gifts while neglecting Denver. Beloved soon throws a destructive tantrum and her malevolent presence causes living conditions in the house to deteriorate. The women live in squalor and Sethe is unable to work, having become physically and mentally drained by Beloved's parasitic nature. Denver becomes depressed yet, inspired by a memory of her grandmother's confidence in her, she musters the courage to seek employment. Once Denver gets work with the Bodwins, women from the local church visit Sethe's to perform an exorcism. They do this partly from guilt; years before, they hadn't warned Sethe of Schoolteacher's impending arrival. They are comforting the family, praying and singing loudly when Denver's new employer arrives to pick her up for work. Sethe sees him and, reminded of Schoolteacher's arrival, attacks him with an icepick, but is subdued by Denver and the women. During the commotion, Beloved disappears completely and Sethe, freed from Beloved's grip, becomes permanently bedridden. Some months later, Paul D encounters Denver at the marketplace. She has become a confident and mature young woman. Arriving at Sethe's he finds her suffering from a deep malaise. He assures Sethe that he and Denver will now take care of her. She tells him she doesn't see the point, as Beloved, her "best thing", is gone. Paul D disagrees, telling Sethe that she herself is her own best thing.

Additionally, Jonathan Demme regular Charles Napier has a cameo as an angry carnie.

Prior to Morrison's receipt of the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved, Winfrey purchased the rights to the novel in 1987; the translation to film then occurred a decade later. There was a conflict over screenplay credit with Akosua Busia demanding sole credit and saying Adam Brooks and Richard LaGravenese got too much. WGA gave credit to all three. Busia said they were all little more than script doctors.

Street scenes were filmed in the Old City and Manayunk neighborhoods of Philadelphia. Some other scenes were shot on a soundstage in the city's disused (and later demolished) Civic Center. and at the Landis Valley Museum in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Shooting was done in a field in Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area in Cecil County, Maryland, at a spot just east of Big Elk Creek and just south of the border with Chester County, Pennsylvania. The State of Maryland subsequently compiled a location map and photographs of the buildings constructed for the film in Fair Hill NRMA. Filming locations also included New Castle, Delaware.

During promotion of the film, Thandiwe Newton said to Vogue magazine, "Here we were working on this project with the heavy underbelly of political and social realism, and she managed to lighten things up I've worked with a lot of good actors, and I know Oprah hasn't made many films. I was stunned. She's a very strong technical actress and it's because she's so smart. She's acute. She's got a mind like a razor blade."