The Black Sea is a 2024 comedy-drama film, directed by Crystal Moselle and Derrick B. Harden. It stars Derrick B. Harden, Irmena Chichikova, Samuel Finzi and Stoyo Mirkov.
It had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 9, 2024, and was released in the United States on November 22, 2024, by Metrograph Pictures.
Contents
Premise
A man makes unexpected connections in a small town, as he finds himself to be the only black person around.
Cast
Derrick B. Harden as Khalid
Irmena Chichikova as Ina
Samuel Finzi as Boris
Stoyo Mirkov as Georgi
Production
Production on the film lasted 16 days, with no script and everything being improvised.
Release
It had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 9, 2024. In May 2024, Metrograph Pictures acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film. It was released in the United States on November 22, 2024.
Reception
Critical reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 24 critics' reviews are positive. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 56 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.
Jen Chaney of Vulture praised the film writing: "If Harden weren’t such a naturally magnetic presence, The Black Sea would not work nearly as effectively as it does. But he’s fascinating and unpredictable to observe, carrying the entire film on his shoulders as if it weighs nothing at all." Brandon Yu of The New York Times also praised the film writing: "Moselle and Harden work with a subtle naturalistic touch that makes for a quietly sweet movie about unlikely redemption."
Conversely, Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com gave the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, writing: "A tepid situation comedy in indie drama drag, "The Black Sea" lacks a sense of urgency."