Divorce in the Black

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I look forward to when I will finally write positive reviews about Tyler Perry's movies. At this point, I'm not sure if that would happen. The man is a brilliant creative artist (I refer to his former works), director and producer but he needs an editor or writing consultant asap!

When I watched his latest Madea sequel, A Madea Homecoming, Acrimony and Mea Culpa last year, I might have promised myself that I won't watch his films again. Then I came across Divorce In The Black (2024) featuring Meagan Good and my promise flies out the window. Probably because I hoped this one might be different. Sadly, it's not, and the negative reviews and criticisms have not stopped.

I noted in my last review that Tyler Perry is known for his usual trope of offensive portrayals of his female characters, making them take the blame for their husband's nasty and inhumane behaviours. This doesn't sit well with his audience hence the criticisms. In this recent release, this motif is repeated again!

The film opens at the funeral of a young man in a church. Seated in the front row are the Bertran family comprising the mother, sons and a daughter-in-law. One of the sons, Dallas (played by Cory Hardrict) looks distraught while his wife, Ava (played by Meagan Good) tries to hold his hand. He snatches his hand away, revealing their relationship is fractured.

All hell is let loose when the pastor openly condemns the family for their bad behaviour and the ways they have terrorised the community. The mother gets angry and orders her sons to take the body out of the church. The deceased family blames Ava for the turn of event because the pastor is her father.

After the funeral that never took place, Dallas treats Ava poorly and disrespects her at a double date dinner, openly asking for a divorce. Ava tries to hold on but how much longer can she endure the abuses? Is she strong enough to grant Dallas the divorce?

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Review

The plot of this film—a faithful wife subjected to abuse and ill-treatment by her husband, torn between granting a divorce and moving on with her life—is good. But the storytelling is the problem here. The movie is about two hours and the first hour is well paced and immerses the audience into the storyline. But the other hour is where things get messed up.

There are scenes that I don't expect to feature in this kind of movie. Scenes that not only disparage the African American (or black) community but also belittles the female gender and glorifies abuse. I'd hoped Perry was past this. I think he aimed to portray the courage of a black woman in such circumstance but ends up doing the opposite and reinforcing clichés.

I was a little sad after watching the movie. I expected better. Tyler Perry's works such as the Madea films, House of Payne, I Can Do Bad All By Myself, For Colored Girls, The Single Moms Club and other TV series used to be inspiring and entertaining. Now, his works have taken a nosedive, turning into soap operas that portray stereotypes and annoying characters with no depth. It's obvious he's trying to dance to Hollywood's trend and culture but that's what kills his creativity. True artists are known and celebrated for their unique style that sets them apart from others. I'm afraid Perry has lost that edge and I'm done watching his movies.

The cast's performances are great. Meagan Good and Cory Hardrict delivered as expected and their chemistry is convincing. The supporting actors are also intriguing but there's only so much these people can do. Their acting skills and charisma cannot redeem the negative criticism trailing this film.

Overall, I won't recommend Divorce In The Black to anyone but if you're interested in watching just for the fun of it, be my guest. The film is R-rated for violence including domestic abuse, fights, use of guns, profanities and mild sex scenes. So it's an adult movie and children shouldn't see it. I'd rate it one star out of 5.

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I love and appreciate Black culture so much, so it’s not a question of whether or not I’d jump on a Black-oriented film or one that celebrates Black culture in any way. It’s one of the reasons that I’ve never not been into any Tyler Perry film. It was always a matter of when will it be released and how soon can I get to watch it. And since said Tyler Perry has produced some amazing films, the package is much sweeter, isn’t it?

So when I saw Divorce In The Black, released just a week ago, there was no question on whether or not I’d watch it. And as is customary with any of Tyler’s films, I prepared myself to be dazzled.

Divorce In The Black (2024)

What is this story about? A young woman, Ava(Meagan Good) who’s given her all to her husband, Dallas(Cory Hardrict) who has been nothing but disrespectful to her. Him and his family. And upon the humiliation this husband suffers when his wife’s father who is a pastor rebukes his family on his late brother’s funeral, coupled with his family’s voices in his head, he decides to divorce his wife.

The divorce happens somewhat seamlessly and Dallas gets it in his head that his former wife’s ease in signing the papers is because she’d been unfaithful to him. He becomes obsessed with getting her back and in the process causes havoc for her and all she loves. Can Ava fight well enough to free herself from the clutches of her ex-husband?

My Review and Rating

I’m not sure if you’re asking the question yet but the second I was done with this film, I asked myself, “So how does this relate to the title?” And if you were confused reading the summary of the plot, I can bet that you aren’t confused as I was upon watching this movie. How and why became my middle name because I kept uttering them every five seconds.

The film opened with the funeral scene and Ava’s father castigating his in-laws and asking them not to tow the path of their late relative. I found that odd so I was immediately on the bereaved family’s side when they took laws into their hands, only to find out that not only were they the antagonists but incredibly uncouth and violent people. Everything fell off from as early as that.

So where do I start from? There was no chemistry between Ava and her love interest, Benji. Absolutely none whatsoever. Nor with Ava and her supposed love interest’s child. The dialogue was so terrible, I was shocked in many moments. Cliché lines and forced statements that made me cringe. Even in the part where Ava suddenly became tough and supposedly menacing, the line she delivered had to be the weakest I’d ever heard. Suffered second hand embarrassment that’s for sure.

The plot itself had no structure. There was no reason for the husband to have divorced. There was no reason why there were gaps in the plot. Like travelling 1.5 hours to your parents house in the country and it’s morning but once you get there, it’s night. The scenes were over the top and over exaggerated, it was physically painful to watch. There was an opening to why Dallas was so angry and acted the way he did. There were mentions as to how he had “gone through a lot all his life,” and I waited in vain for what he had gone through or the reason he treated his wife badly to be explored.

The scenes were predictable with its over used story line of a deadbeat, cheating or overly aggressive husband. I think Black culture is so rich with so many stories to tell, so I don’t get why continuously delving in these stereotypical clichés but just with different cast is becoming the norm in Tyler’s movies. I also think that when it comes to production and storytelling, it would be wiser for him to invest in other producers and scriptwriters. It’s getting more and more obvious that he can no longer or maybe too busy to do this. Acrimony is still one of the most amazing movies I’ve ever watched and I guess Tyler was in a good place then to produce such a masterpiece. But seriously, this and Mea Culpa truly was not just it for me.

I would have gone on to listing other flawsbin the film but that’s what the entire movie is so what’s the need? The reviews calling this movie gripping and suspenseful honestly made me giggle. Would have been the worst two hours of my life but I’ve seen other movies this year that I’m sure even a film as bad as this can’t beat. Maybe I’ll give it a close third. If you’re a lover of Tyler Perry’s movies, you’re not missing out on much not watching this. Easily a 4/10 and that’s only because I like Meagan Good and feel her talent was a waste in this film.

Jhymi🖤

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Divorce In The Black (2024)

My Review and Rating

Jhymi🖤