MOVIE REVIEW: Is ‘Divorce in the Black’ Tyler Perry’s worst movie yet?

‘Divorce in the Black’ is the latest work of Hollywood filmmaker and actor Tyler Perry, and it has sparked much discussion among critics and audiences.

‘Divorce in the Black’ tells the story of a preacher’s daughter, Ava (Meagan Good), who is in love with an abusive husband, Dallas (Cory Hardrict). She stays on, hoping that her love for him will change him.

Still, her hot-tempered, angry, aggressive, trauma-haunted husband is perpetually drawn to the life of high-handedness, alcoholism and violence synonymous with the ghetto family in which he was raised.

This keeps him continually venting his frustrations, anger, and bitterness on his wife Ava, a clear relationship between the prey and the predator. Then came the night in shining armour, Benji (Joseph Anderson), a high school ex-lover, to the rescue.

ANALYSIS

The movie starts on a high note, with a burial setting in a church as the opening scene. The officiating minister, Clarence, Ava’s father, though not in support of the marriage of his daughter to Dallas, agreed to bury Dallas’ eldest brother, whose death was a result of a robbery gone wrong.

In his message, Clarence preached about the importance of living a righteous life while on earth, referring to the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:27&28.

Present in the church were church members but also the family of the deceased, Bertrand, his four brothers and his mother, who were all fuming at the time. The deceased’s mother could no longer help it; thus, she interrupted the preacher and insulted him.

She asked her four sons to get the corpse of their brother out, and they’d bury him in their backyard as she had earlier suggested. As they walked up to lift the coffin, she yelled and asked them to leave their coffin for them (the church) as they had paid for it. The four boys opened the coffin and lifted their dead brother’s corpse.

All of the above tension and energy occurred within the first eight minutes of the movie. The atmosphere was intense and sound—you could feel it. From then on, it feels like ‘Divorce in the Black’ was rushed, as attention wasn’t paid to things that ought to have been. There was an absolute disconnect from everything. No scene in the movie had any form of intimacy.

ANALYSIS

Ava and Dallas

At Ava and Dallas’ home, the shots only happened between the dining and living rooms, creating a sense of detachment. It never felt like a real home, just a set for them to act and leave. The lack of connection between the duo was palpable, leaving the audience emotionally disengaged.

Ava’s parents home

A scene where Ava’s dad tries to remind her how excellent and brilliant she is. And how she should not let her marriage make her cave in and lose herself. He played her a collection of videos from her childhood. The disconnect was too apparent as much as that was to be a beautiful, vulnerable moment.

In another scene, Ava walks in on her mother, crying after she sees a written note of the things Dallas has done to her daughter. She first said, “Where did we go wrong?” After much back and forth, she started apologising to her daughter. Not so long after, her husband walks into the scene; she sucks it up to protect her daughter. The question is, from who? Her husband, the girl’s father?

Ava’s office

The entire office scene was shot at the office reception. There was a glimpse of her in her office, but every action was shot on the stairs or the reception.

In addition, every time Ava drove her car and parked, the headlamp was left on. The car never really shut down.

Jim and Dallas

Jim (Shannon Wallace) played Ava’s best friend’s (Rona ‘Taylor Williams’) husband and best friend to Dallas. Jim was seen to compare Dallas through his misconduct. Never did he address his shortcomings. In the scene where the divorce papers were signed, Jim was in the room as a support system for Dallas. This contradicts everything a black man and real friendship represents, mainly in cases of domestic violence and abuse.

In reality, Meagan and Hardrict are estranged. It will naturally be expected that the duo will interpret their roles better as it is a reality they have dealt with.

REVIEWS

Rotten Tomatoes, an American review-aggregation website for film and television, rated Divorce in the Black 0/10. This marks the first time a Perry movie has received such a rating, leaving many viewers disappointed and eager to share their own perspectives.

A critic wrote, “Content collapse. Asinine, tedious and reckless are a few words to describe Tyler Perry’s latest romance drama – a genre he seems to have no personal familiarity with”.

Also reacting, on 21 July, AA. Presley, a famous Nigerian movie analyst, on-air personality, and co-host of a radio movie show hashtagMTSS on Inspiration FM Lagos, “If you see the first eight minutes of divorce in the black and don’t go any further, you’ve done no wrong.”

In an interview on Breakfast Club with Cory Hardrict, he said, “He paid me the most I made in a film for three weeks. As the lead actor, this affirms that the movie was shot in a rush. The story was cliche. The acting had no connection’’.

Verdict 3/10.

You can watch Divorce in the Black on Prime Video .