Last Updated on July 21, 2024 by
Tyler Perry’s Divorce in the Black is a 2024 movie directed by Tyler Perry. The film stars Meagan Good, Cory Hardrict, and Joseph Lee Anderson with a runtime of 2h 23m theater released July 11, 2024.
Perry begins Divorce in the Black with one of his most shocking scenes yet, and this is coming from a man who has had Madea choke a fast-food employee in Madea’s Big Happy Family. A minister (Richard Lawson) gives a eulogy at the funeral of one of the Bertran boys, a family described as a family of worthless crooks by the clergyman. But his daughter, Ava (Meagan Good) is married to one of them, Dallas (Cory Hardrict). It gets even uglier and the Bertrans leave the funeral, but not without taking the corpse with them. Shooting everything into a spin, they take the body of their brother out of the casket and take him home in their pickup truck. It is clichéd, stereotyped nonsense, but it is also hilariously fun.
Unfortunately, Divorce in the Black never comes close to this inspired camp again. That opening is mostly misdirection because Divorce in the Black is actually about Megan and Dallas, who are married but unhappy. Ava has a successful career, loves her husband, and is supportive; Dallas is a succubus who suffers in Hell. Over dinner with friends, he declares loudly that he wants a divorce, shocking Ava to the core, once again. Perry never portrays Dallas as anything other than deserving of scorn, hence making it difficult to fully endorse Ava’s torment though everyone understands that Dallas is horrible and that getting a divorce from him is undoubtedly good for Ava.
What one wants is space for the sort of subtlety that is currently in very short supply. That’s never been Perry’s specialty—his most egregious movie, Temptations: In Confessions of a Marriage Counselor, infected the main character with HIV for cheating. Still, Divorce in the Black seems to be practically screaming for it. Dallas remains an extruded cartoon villain, a megaphone of unapologetic malice always cranked too high. Ava, on the other hand, is a sweet angel who is as pure as the air from heaven above. Perry’s script never lets these characters be anything more than entities of light and darkness and that makes Ava and Dallas what they are. Perry’s moral code is frustratingly rigid: If a person performs evil deeds, he or she is an evil person.
It means that there is no place for compromises or gradual changes. It is not only reprehensible but also mundane prose. Such a story, that of a woman leaving her abusive husband and becoming a new person, deserved way more than what Perry was able to offer. Certainly, his Madea comedies are his most popular work, but when Tyler has tried his hand at sincere drama, the results have been good. For Colored Girls, Good Deeds, and I Can Do Bad All By Myself are some of Perry’s best films because there is an inherent sense of earnestness and a rhythm to them. However, Divorce in the Black oscillates between the solemn and the absurd, which generates inconsistency between the messages conveyed. Perry cannot commit to being straightforward and earnest, nor does he opt for embracing the pure silly movies such as A Fall From Grace or Acrimony but rather, he tries to do both without creating a consistent tone.
While it is hard to achieve impressive performances from characters typecasted into one emotion or characteristic, Good gives Ava a remarkable depth. There is sexuality and humor, and there is some real emotion when Ava is trying to build a new life. Good has been great for a long time, and although she cannot redeem Divorce, her performance is a testament to the fact that she does not need to be given lead roles. Unfortunately, Divorce in the Black amplifies all the worst aspects of Tyler Perry as a filmmaker.
The plot is overly simplistic: “You know I am a straight shooter,” Rona (Taylor Polidore Williams) says this after she shoots straight, clearly trying to make sure the viewer does not confuse her with anyone else. Far worse is the constant intrusion of melodrama, which occurs at random. I do like melodrama, but it needs an aim, and the only time it happens in Divorce in the Black is when Perry has nowhere else to turn and instead immediately soars directly into silliness where emotional moments are concerned.
And outrageousness is precisely where the film goes in the third act of common cliches and banal violence. This is a step backward for Perry, who in 2022 made his best work, A Jazzman’s Blues. It is his most striking picture while Divorce in the Black seems to be dull and rather mundane. It seems it was designed with streaming in mind. It has no curiosity visually, which makes the plot predictable, thus making every twist amateurish because they are expected from a million miles away. As a filmmaker, Perry has without a doubt deserved thorough critical analysis, which he rarely receives. It is, therefore, rather disheartening that Divorce in the Black finds Perry at his most indecisive as if he is caught between two failed concepts. I Recommend a Trigger Warning for this movie.
Tyler Perry’s Divorce in the Black 2024 Parents Guide Age Rating
Tyler Perry’s Divorce in the Black is Rated R by the Motion Picture Rating (MPA) for language, some sexual content, and violence.
Violence & Gore: The first scene is outrageous; a minister delivers a scathing eulogy saying the dead man’s family is a bunch of crooks; the family then takes the coffin outside and steals it away in a pickup truck. There are several scenes with bitter quarrels between Ava and Dallas, one of them is when Dallas shocks Ava at dinner by announcing he wants a divorce. There is some action and violence in the movie: one of the characters, Rona, points a gun at someone, but the context of the action and the consequences do not appear in the story summaries. The third act is filled with violent and cliched fight scenes that had been described as banal and cliched.
Profanity: Swearing is used throughout the movie, especially in scenes that require increased emotions or specific actions. Characters often engage in cursing and yelling in the process of a conflict.
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: People drink when they are at parties or meeting friends for dinner. The influence of alcohol over them is only suggested but not fully explained or analyzed in the summary.
Sexual Content: Ava’s character is characterized by elements of sexual appeal and comedy from time to time. The nature of these scenes is not expounded, yet they shape the character and the plot. It contains major themes which include marriage, adultery, and the effects of divorce. These themes can often be depicted as rather dark and more appropriate for adult audiences.
The following factors are important to guide parents on whether to allow their children to watch “Divorce in the Black. ”These include scenes that portray violence, strong language throughout the movies, and emotions displayed throughout the movie making the ideal content suitable for adults.
