Black Beauty
Disney+ | Release Date (Streaming): November 27, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
78
Paste MagazineAmy AmatangeloNov 23, 2020
An inspiring movie for young, old and everyone in between, I would be shocked if the movie’s final moments didn’t lead to a cathartic cry for every viewer. The beauty of this story is timeless. Read full review
70
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganNov 23, 2020
As Avis softly underlines, not everything has changed for man’s servants. And although we know the beats of this story, it’s a classic for a reason: Disney+’s Black Beauty gives a great yarn a good exercise. Read full review
67
IndieWireKate ErblandNov 23, 2020
Sewell’s book has always been a better fit for piecemeal storytelling — the book itself is divided up by Beauty’s owners — and while Avis’ script does keep the relationship between Beauty and Jo at its center, that lends an uneven treatment to many of Beauty’s later adventures. Read full review
63
New York PostSara StewartNov 24, 2020
This is a Disney adaptation, beautiful but frequently treacly. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreNov 23, 2020
With its obvious melodrama, obviously misleading “locations” and even more obvious big stunts, Black Beauty doesn’t transcend its sentimental children’s entertainment origins. But Avis more than does the novel justice. Read full review
60
Film ThreatSabina Dana PlasseDec 17, 2020
This updated version of Black Beauty is well-done and touches upon some important points about being connected to animals, nature, and learning to care for others. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comMonica CastilloNov 27, 2020
While much of this Black Beauty strays from the original, the spirit of empathy and combatting animal cruelty remain intact. Read full review
50
The New York TimesRobert DanielsNov 27, 2020
Avis loses the novel’s sincerity by watering down Sewell’s animal welfare plea. In this update, the humans are not as villainous. Beauty is not as prominent. And the novel’s mustang spirit diminishes into a ho-hum horse movie. Read full review
50
CNNBrian LowryNov 26, 2020
Black Beauty gives the original Victorian novel a significant makeover, a contemporary remake that relocates the story to the American West. The movie delivers a more pointed animal-rights message, but while its equine star fares well enough, the two-footed characters never really get out of the starting gate. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawNov 30, 2020
It’s a sonorously well-meaning film that bathes everything in the bland, buttery sunlight that Disney always produces and in which the human performances are as opaque as the ones given by the horses Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenNov 23, 2020
While the muted performances might have benefitted from the occasional more emotionally rooted response and the South Africa locations don’t quite convincingly double for John Ford country, it’s the inertness that ultimately stops Black Beauty in its tracks. Read full review
40
The TelegraphRobbie CollinNov 23, 2020
In a story that could have offered a parade of vivid character roles, only Foy and Glen really register: a kindly park ranger (Hakeem Kae-Kazim) deserved more screen time, while the various surly faces on the Manhattan carriage-toting scene are only thinly defined. Read full review
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