The American Society of Magical Negroes
Focus Features | Release Date: March 15, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
50
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
16
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
ConsequenceLiz Shannon MillerMar 15, 2024
Beneath the layers of magical realism and dot-com satire, American Society feels personal and raw, capturing the real depth and range of emotions that a person of color is made to feel, living in a country where racism remains ever-present, especially now. Read full review
90
VarietyOwen GleibermanJan 20, 2024
The sly beauty of The American Society of Magical Negroes is that it’s a wicked satire of white people that’s also an empathetic satire of Black people. Read full review
83
The PlaylistMarshall ShafferJan 20, 2024
The American Society of Magical Negroes is a gracious work that both shows and critiques the very nature of humility. Read full review
80
Screen DailyAmber WilkinsonJan 20, 2024
The ending is simultaneously satisfying and slyly subversive, allowing an unravelling of ideas that should lead audiences to think about what they have watched. Read full review
75
TheWrapRonda Racha PenriceJan 20, 2024
Even with its faults, though, “Magical Negroes” is sure to spark meaningful and needed conversations around race among the audiences reflected in the film. At the very least, Libii shows that he is witty and adept enough as a director to continue working in his craft. Read full review
60
The New York TimesNicolas RapoldMar 15, 2024
Even as the movie is lampooning one trope, it keeps taking refuge in other conventions in ways that undercut the pop of its premise and make one wish for greater depth to its thought experiments. Read full review
60
The GuardianAdrian HortonJan 21, 2024
At its best, the film skewers the potentially eye-rolling concept of white fragility with visual panache and wit. Read full review
58
IndieWireTomris LafflyJan 20, 2024
[An] unevenly written but good-looking directorial debut that gradually runs out of steam. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubMustafa Yasar IIMar 25, 2024
A fatal lack of consequence for the film’s world or characters prevents it from ever deepening its initial premise, or unifying the sum of its disparate parts. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanMar 18, 2024
The lightweight nature of the plot is, arguably, appropriate to the film’s gentle comedy, which elicits chuckles here and there, but rarely stings or draws blood. Read full review
50
CNNBrian LowryMar 15, 2024
Built atop a provocative-sounding title and premise, The American Society of Magical Negroes starts and ends quite well. Almost everything in between, alas, proves uneven and inert in a way that dilutes its satirical punch, making this an interesting introduction for first-time writer-director Kobi Libii but a less than satisfying one. Read full review
50
Paste MagazineAparita BhandariMar 14, 2024
The challenge of a film like The American Society of Magical Negroes is that the joke rarely goes beyond the single line premise for the movie, missing the opportunity to offer a biting analysis. Read full review
50
ColliderRoss BonaimeJan 26, 2024
The American Society of Magical Negroes is a film that needs bite for its high concept to work, and unfortunately, Libii’s film doesn’t have teeth. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyDevan CogganJan 20, 2024
American Society can’t decide whether to go full biting satire or charming rom-com, and as a result, it fails to do either genre justice. Read full review
50
The Daily BeastNick SchagerJan 19, 2024
A socially conscious romantic comedy, and if those two modes don’t sound compatible, [writer/director] Libii does nothing to alter that impression. Read full review
40
Little White LiesHamza ShehryarMay 2, 2024
At various points, the film seems to be on the verge of something riveting. Read full review
40
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeApr 28, 2024
Kobi Libii’s film is far too diffident and polite in its approach to leave much of a mark in the conversation about race and representation in US culture. Read full review
40
EmpireKambole CampbellApr 25, 2024
Despite a valiant effort from Justice Smith, the satire in The American Society of Magical Negroes feels aimless, scattered across a story that struggles to pick a meaningful direction. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesCarlos AguilarMar 15, 2024
Like a comedy sketch that overstays its welcome, “Society” undermines both its caustic intent and its romantic-comedy subplot. Read full review
40
Screen RantPatrice WitherspoonJan 25, 2024
Whatever the intent, the execution isn’t all the way there, and that’s the biggest disappointment of all. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterJourdain SearlesJan 23, 2024
Ultimately, The American Society of Magical Negroes is a film bogged down by its filmmaker’s inability to make the central joke work. The film simply is what it is satirizing: way too concerned with how white people perceive Blackness to the detriment of every single Black character in the film. Read full review
25
RogerEbert.comRobert DanielsJan 20, 2024
It lacks form, edge, politics, coherency, and the grand vision necessary for vast world building. It’s a film that begins on volatile ground only to tumble down a tonally rocky hill before settling on a conclusion so emotionally dissonant that its clang rings louder than the minor laughs the film engenders during its bloated run time. Read full review
12
Slant MagazineJustin ClarkMar 16, 2024
There are versions of this premise relevant to a modern world, but the film’s point of view on the state of race relations feels stuck somewhere around 1954. Read full review
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