Another blind pick that turns into a pleasant surprise, featuring America's Mom in an unexpected turn.
A few months after a car accident that claimed the life of his wife, photographer Nolan (an excellent Mamoudou Athie) is still having neurological problems. His short term memory is a mess, he forgets things easily, loses his temper even easier, and must rely on his school age daughter Ava (Amanda Christine) to parent him back to normalcy. He is constantly being bothered by a hospital to come in for a "study," and after a threat of calling Child Protective Services is made because he consistently forgets to pick up Ava after school, he relents.
There, Dr. Lillian Brooks (Phylicia Rashad) is making some excellent progress in recovering lost memories, and reversing brain damage. She uses hypnosis to place a patient inside their own memories, as she monitors the miracle device- the "black box"- with a computer. Nolan is making incredible strides in his treatments, but the faces in his sessions are blurred, and there is a mysterious Backwards Man creature (Troy James) who seems to invade his newly discovered memories, which are bizarre and unknown to him.
Director and co-writer Osei-Kuffour perfectly evens out the horrific and sci-fi elements of the story. Athie is so sympathetic as Nolan, in a heart breakingly honest performance, that the viewer doesn't want to see anything happen to him, and I was genuinely saddened when things were not going right for him. The cast all around is outstanding, Amanda Christine is refreshingly un-precocious as Ava, and Tosin Morohunfola is also great as Nolan's best friend, completely believing in their relationship. Rashad is wonderful as Dr. Brooks, who has just a hint of menace in her performance, but Osei-Kuffour never turns her into a complete psychotic nutbag at the astonishing midpoint surprise plot revelation. The special effects are mostly practical, with very little computer generation to outshine the story and performances. It's rather a small film when you look back on it.
Too many critics and audience members online have dismissed this as just another episode of "Black Mirror." Good thing I am completely unfamiliar with that show. Instead, "Black Box" came in and swept me into its condensed little world in an almost perfect suspenser. Great stuff.
Stats:
-Directed by Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour
-Teleplay by Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour and Stephen Herman, Story by Stephen Herman
-Cast: Mamoudou Athie, Phylicia Rashad, Amanda Christine, Tosin Morohunfola, Charmaine Bingwa, Donald Elise Watkins, Troy James
-Media: Streaming on Amazon Prime
-Running Time: 100 minutes
-Letterboxd rating: (* * * * 1/2/* * * * *); IMDb rating: 9/10
-MPAA Unrated, contains strong physical violence, some gore, some profanity, adult situations
