Black Box

"Amazon and Blumhouse were united in their desire to create original stories from diverse perspectives. It was a priority for both companies to work with under-represented women and filmmakers and to provide a platform for new voices. One of the ways we have been able to make great films and television programs is to tap into talent pools that have not been tapped over the years". Jason Blum

Released as part of the Welcome to the Blumhouse film series, an anthology of thrillers featuring diverse castes directed by emerging filmmakers, Black box is well worth discovering. This film series focuses on thrillers, suspense and psychological drama. The films explore related themes of cultural differences, social pressures and personal anxieties. Although each film is independent, they all share a common line of family and love as a redemptive or destructive force.

Having lost his wife and his memory in a tragic car accident, photographer Nolan Wright (Mamoudou Athie) is desperately seeking a sense of normalcy for himself and his young daughter Ava (Amanda Christine). When neuropsychiatrist Lillian Brooks (Phylicia Rashad) invites him to participate in an experimental treatment that could reverse his condition, he accepts. Using a hypnosis device called a black box, she unearths lost memories, allowing patients to relive them first-hand. But the memories Nolan experiences reveal a much darker past than he had anticipated. Even more terrifying is the disfigured creature that threatens to kill Nolan in his surreal dream state. Strange creatures are present in his dreams and Nolan realizes that he is the central element in a vast plot.

In this haunting descent into a man's shattered psyche, Black Box turns out to be a high-tech thriller that asks the real and essential question: Do we direct our minds or do our minds direct us? The answer provided by this film proves worthy of an episode from the fourth dimension. Black Box co-written and directed by Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr (Born With It) is an alarming and disturbing futuristic thriller about the use of new technologies for hardly noble purposes. The cast includes Mamoudou Athie (Jurassic World: Dominion, The Circle), Phylicia Rashad (Creed), Amanda Christine (Colony), Tosin Morohunfola (The Chi, The 24th), Charmaine Bingwa (Trees of Peace, Little Sist) and Troy James (The Flash, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark).

The first film in the Welcome to the Blumhouse series cleverly mixes thriller and science fiction film and shows us once again that new technologies are a real danger if they are not in good hands. The film also addresses the recurring theme of human consciousness and transmigration and shows these dangers. In a society that is increasingly anchored to the important place that computers occupy in our lives, the film's observation is truly chilling.

Accustomed to offering independent, low-budget productions, Blumhouse shows once again that its formula can work very well if it is based not only on a mastered script but also on an interesting cast. Among the four films of Welcome to the Blumhouse, it is one of the most successful and above all is the one that really leads to existential questions. We can therefore only recommend this film available from October 6th worldwide on Amazon Prime Video.

Black Box
Directed by Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr.
Produced by John H. Brister
Written by Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr., Stephen Herman
Story by Stephen Herman
Starring Mamoudou Athie, Phylicia Rashad, Amanda Christine, Tosin Morohunfola, Troy James
Music by: Brandon Roberts
Cinematography: Hilda Mercado
Edited by Glenn Garland
Production companies : Blumhouse Television, Black Bar Mitzvah
Distributed by Amazon Studios
Release date: October 6, 2020 (United States)
Running time: 100m minutes

Viewed on September 30, 2020 (screener press)