Black Mother

Name: Black Mother
Genre: Documentary
Released: March 8, 2019
Duration: 77 min
Rating: 86

2019

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 10 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 7 Ratings

See All

3.9

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

3.9	Your Score
3.9	User Score Generally unfavorable reviews based on 7 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

Black Mother (Trailer 2)

Now Playing: Black Mother (Trailer 2)

Movie Details & Credits

Grasshopper Film | Release Date: March 8, 2019 | NR

Summary: Part film, part baptism, in Black Mother director Khalik Allah brings us on a spiritual journey through Jamaica. Soaking up its bustling metropolises and tranquil countryside, Allah introduces us to a succession of vividly rendered souls who call this island home. Their candid testimonies create a polyphonic symphony, set against a visualPart film, part baptism, in Black Mother director Khalik Allah brings us on a spiritual journey through Jamaica. Soaking up its bustling metropolises and tranquil countryside, Allah introduces us to a succession of vividly rendered souls who call this island home. Their candid testimonies create a polyphonic symphony, set against a visual prayer of indelible portraiture. Thoroughly immersed between the sacred and profane, Black Mother channels rebellion and reverence into a deeply personal ode informed by Jamaica’s turbulent history but existing in the urgent present. [Grasshopper Film]… Expand

Director: Khalik Allah

Genre(s): Documentary

Rating: NR

Runtime: 77 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Stream On

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

Andrew Crump

Mar 12, 2019

The combined effect of Black Mother’s technique—Allah shot on both 16mm and HD—is dizzying to the point of overwhelming, but the discipline required to engage with it is rewarded by a singular moviegoing experience. As the mother births her baby, so does Allah birth new cinematic grammar. Read full review

IndieWire Eric Kohn

Apr 4, 2018

Allah has loaded Black Mother with so many remarkable faces and observations that viewers can hover in its details with ghostly ubiquity, and he only breaks the spell with the recurring image of a nude woman holding a coconut to ground us in some kind of structural trajectory. Read full review

Carlos Aguilar

May 10, 2019

An eternal nurturer, the black mother whom Allah dissects and praises in this transfixing hymn of a movie about the place where the woman that gave him life was born is far more than just a homeland but a direct link to the answers about existence. Read full review

Josh Larsen

Dec 3, 2019

During much of Black Mother, the top of the next frame can be seen peeking from the bottom of the current one. The effect is a certain cinema verite bleariness, but also the suggestion that the person upon whom the camera is focused has a story that not only matters in this moment, but will go on. Read full review

Jessica Kiang

May 21, 2019

A beguilingly immersive, multifaceted, vividly sensorial portrait of his mother’s homeland, Jamaica. Read full review

John DeFore

Mar 6, 2019

Whatever its impetus, the film is a warm bath of sensations that suffers little for any thematic haziness. Read full review

Lawrence Garcia

Mar 6, 2019

What distinguishes the film is Allah’s superb eye and talent for portraiture. Read full review

SEE ALL 10 REVIEWS

Write a Review

Mixed:

User Reviews

Plastics

Oct 19, 2019

Even though the first part seems great and revolutionary the second already feels repetitive and desperate for some new forms that the director doesn't even try to find. Although it will still remain as one the most abounding portraits of a country where God exists somewhere between sadnessEven though the first part seems great and revolutionary the second already feels repetitive and desperate for some new forms that the director doesn't even try to find. Although it will still remain as one the most abounding portraits of a country where God exists somewhere between sadness and grief. Think about all those perfect Dziga Vertov documentaries shot on the 8mm camera for your main reference when picking this one for an evening screening.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

SEE ALL 1 REVIEWS