Image: courtesy of Lionsgate.
If you haven’t seen these thought-provoking and culturally significant cinematic gems yet, get ready to do some serious couch time! Each film offers a unique narrative, from rebooted comedies to musical masterpieces, and showcases immense Black talent in the film industry in front and behind the camera. Don’t miss out on these six Black films of 2023 that offer both entertainment and meaningful storytelling before the year’s end.
The Blackening
In this horror comedy, several friends play a possessed board game that forces them to select the blackest among them and sacrifice that person to save the others. Based on a Comedy Central skit from writer/actor Dewayne Perkins, the film also stars Sinqua Walls, Jay Pharoah, Yvonne Orji, Grace Byers, X Mayo, Melvin Gregg, Jermaine Fowler and Antoinette Robertson.
They Cloned Tyrone
An exciting sci-fi adventure with a strong social commentary, this meta journey solves the mystery behind lives that are brought back from the dead, all while exploring themes of identity, technology and systemic injustice. And it’s launched a new genre of music, according to the film’s producer Stephen ‘Dr.’ Love.
House Party
With a nod to the 1990 classic comedy, this lighthearted ride recaptures the essence of youthful exuberance as a new duo, club promoters and best buddies Damon (Tosin Cole) and Kevin (Jacob Latimore), try to throw the house party of the century and get into a whole lot of mischief while doing it.
American Fiction
A brilliant but underread author pens a novel in “ghetto vernacular” to teach the publishing world a lesson. Instead, the book is praised for its “realness” of the Black experience and becomes a best-seller of the year. Jeffrey Wright gives a tour-de-force performance in Cord Jefferson’s film that explores racial perceptions, which is based on the novel by Percival Everett.
Rustin
This biographical drama sheds light on the remarkable life of Bayard Rustin, an influential civil rights activist who fought tirelessly for equality and orchestrated the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. His story, which was buried due to his sexual orientation, is finally brought to life in the masterful hands of Colman Domingo.
The Color Purple
Based on Alice Walker’s acclaimed novel, the Broadway musical comes to the silver screen in this emotionally charged retelling of Celie’s transformation from an abused child to a strong, independent woman. The star-studded cast includes Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, H.E.R., Halle Bailey, Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, and Fantasia Barrino in her film debut.