Black Box

Black Box begins intriguingly - a single father suffering from amnesia tries to regain his memories through a tech-backed experiment. The dynamic between father (Mamoudou Athie) and daughter (a terrific Amanda Christine, the true star of the film) is warmly established. It takes about an hour before the big (predictable) twist arrives, and thereafter, Black Box descends into a heap of melodrama. I didn't find Black Box positioning itself in the horror genre except for the first time the Backwards Man (played to astounding effect by actor-contortionist Troy James) pops up. It's very clearly a psychological sci-fi thriller that focuses less on the sci-fi and more on familial bonding.

The performances (from the all-black ensemble) are good enough to drive the film forward even during its melodramatic portions, with Amanda Christine being the standout performer, followed closely by Phylicia Rashad (as Dr. Brooks). The film has most elements of a Blumhouse production and blurry parallels to Jordan Peele's Get Out can be drawn. However, once the initial uneasiness recedes, Black Box is content being a little sappy in its proceedings. While I was never bored watching Black Box, I felt it could have been better.

'Black Box (2020)' follows a man who, following a near-fatal car crash, undergoes an experimental procedure in an attempt to cure his amnesia. It's a bit of an unbalanced blend between sci-fi and horror, bouncing between its genres rather than embodying them simultaneously. Still, both aspects are pulled off pretty well and the overall result is an entertaining experience throughout. It's a bit of a puzzle-box piece. As it progresses, its layers slowly get peeled back; in fact, the entire thing gets turned on its head around halfway through. It's engaging and interesting, a relatively complex story that keeps you invested throughout. Though some of its pseudo science does come across as a tad silly, the flick has a solid emotional centre that keeps things grounded and resonant. Though it isn't all that memorable in the long run, it's a surprising and ever-evolving affair that's enjoyable throughout. 7/10

I put it on last night on my phone while in bed, the tags of Sci-Fi, Mystery and Horror giving me hope that it will be something mind-boggling and a bit scary that will keep me on my toes.

I was wrong, though. The movie started out OK, but later on became quite predictable and around the middle or right before, I already had figured out the mystery and the second half of the movie was rather boring.

It doesn't help that at around 60% of the movie, I started falling asleep and left it to finish it the next day and it actually managed to feel even cheesier in some parts.

The acting was for the most part OK, except for the protagonist's daughter that seemed way too mentally and emotionally mature for her age to the point where I started questioning is this a Horror or a Comedy/Parody.

The rest of the movie was almost spot on, except that it was too predictable and not scary at all, if I started falling asleep while watching it alone in the dead of the night, it says how "scary" it is.

Overall, I don't regret watching it, but I could've definitely watched some better and more rewarding Sci-Fi Mystery that I was originally looking for.

If you like Black Mirror you'll probably enjoy this. Wouldn't classify this as horror but more sci-fi, drama. The acting is superb.

I put an * because I was wide awake at 2:00am and I needed something to watch. I saw Blumhouse and I saw Phylicia Rashad and I thought ok, lets do.

I was pulled in from the beginning and was interested in trying to figure out what was wrong with this guy. By the time the "twist" happened, I had figured out most of it, but I still couldn't turn away and wanted to see how it ended. I thought overall the movie was satisfying. If you're a perfectionist, I probably wouldn't bother with this because the writing was a little choppy and you might have to suspend disbelief to suspend disbelief, but it's really not a bad flick.