Imagine visiting a small foreign territory and being showered with celebrity-status attention. Maybe the locals mistake you for a certain North American icon. Or they're just starstruck by the abnormal presence of such a distinctive figure sticking out like a sore thumb in their otherwise familiar community. This is what happened to the filmmakers behind The Black Sea.
According to their directors' statement, when they traveled to Bulgaria and watched as its residents flocked to Derrick B. Harden, presumably under the impression that such an impressively imposing presence was that of an A-list movie star or musical artist. Instead, the Hollywood newcomer was starring in his first feature film, The Black Sea, named after one of Bulgaria's bodies of water — and by the looks of it, this certainly won't be Harden's last starring vehicle.
Directed by Harden and Crystal Moselle, the remarkably poetic new drama has made the festival rounds and will now start trickling out to select theaters. Brooklynites will soak up Jordan's native accent and charismatic demeanor, which clearly reflects the culture within New York's great borough. And despite the fact that we've seen this sort of fish-out-of-water journey time and time again on the big screen, there's simply no resisting Harden's charisma, especially opposite a certain female Bulgarian presence that eventually proves to be a match made in heaven later in the tale. The Black Sea accomplishes virtually all the things a movie like this should do: inspire, tug at your heartstrings, make you laugh, and turn you on.
Derrick B. Harden Is a Big Man in a Small Town
4/5
The Black Sea
A man journeys to a small Eastern European coastal town where he finds unexpected connections despite being the only Black person in the area.
- Release Date
- November 22, 2024
- Director
- Crystal Moselle
- Cast
- Irmena Chichikova , Derrick B. Harden , Stoyo Mirkov , Samuel Finzi , Joanna Nordahl
- Runtime
- 1h 33m
- Derrick B. Harden's bombastic and heartfelt turn is everything, and Irmena Chichikova is magnetic.
- The Bulgarian setting is unique and interesting.
- A frequently very funny film that benefits from the looseness of its improvisational structure.
- The story is fairly simple and has some familiar, if not predictable story beats.
In The Black Sea, Hardenplays Khalid, a bombastic New Yorker who struts the concrete jungle with a man-with-a-plan demeanor that begs the question, "Why shouldn't this guy be the mayor of the Big Apple?" Well, for starters, he's working a dead-end job at a coffee shop — but he quits abruptly when we're first introduced.
But maybe he does have a master plan after all, which includes embarking on a mysterious flight overseas to none other than Bulgaria to meet an elderly woman. In an absurdly comedic cold open to the film, she is told by a psychic that she must seek happiness from a "Black man," and once she tracks down Khalid on Facebook (yes, it's still going strong), the Brooklynite is quickly on his way for the sake of some cold, hard cash.
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But this is a movie — and a darn successful one, at that — so things don't exactly play out according to plan upon Khalid's touchdown. No spoilers, but one unfortunate turn of events swiftly leads to another. And before he can catch his breath for a cup of beloved matcha, Khalid is now stranded in a small Bulgarian town — the citizens of which collectively act as if they'd never seen a Black person in the flesh before. Like, ever. Just the Black Sea...
Improvising a Friendship & Business Opportunity
So now, the once-ambitious and relentlessly optimistic Khalid is broke, hopeless, homeless, and isolated on multiple levels. The language barrier certainly doesn't help. Oh, and did we mention Khalid's passport is then stolen while he snoozes on an abandoned boat overnight? What develops as the ultimately pulse-pounding first act progresses into the second is a simplistic yet gripping fish-out-of-water saga, as Khalid realizes he needs to start earning a buck around town to survive another day.
First, he takes odd jobs along the Black Sea's harbor with the shady and abusive Georgi (Stoyo Mirkov), but it's simply a means to an end and leads Khalid to the stunning and hospitable travel agent in town named Ina (the marvelous Irmena Chichikova). From there, Khalid begins to rebuild that Brooklyn-native sense of optimism that once shined through him, now ready to shout to the Black Sea before him: "Hey, you can't stop me!"
Khalid begins a business partnership with the open-minded Ina, using her local connections to help her various businesses around town prosper while refueling his goal to be the next legendary rapper — like, say, the late, great DMX (you'll see). Sure, there are the expected (and predictable) hiccups along the way, but it's still beautifully messy thanks to the extensive improvisation that's captured in the film. Based on Derrick B. Harden's own experiences, he and Moselle (known for her acclaimed documentary The Wolfpack) improvise their way through a naturalistic but triumphant journey which builds to a poetic conclusion.
A Simple but Irresistible Journey
In addition to the raw and plainly irresistible turns by Harden and Chichikova, The Black Sea also thrives in how it immerses audiences into this very different setting, introducing New Yorkers and the rest of us to a certain part of Europe we may not be too educated in. It's something that will inspire budding storytellers and filmmakers to perhaps grab their own cameras and take their cinematic adventures somewhere fresh. With everything going on politically in the U.S. and otherwise these days, why not get lost in the cineplex with a journey that immerses us in a wildly different culture for a small chunk of our day?
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And throughout The Black Sea, even amid those darker moments, there is a resounding sense of hope that will inspire dreamers similar to Khalid to make an effort to follow their true passions, no matter the circumstances or predicaments presented before them. Khalid is a bright, shining example of a young gun refusing to let catastrophes shatter his dreams of becoming the next DMX. Hey, he may even meet some Bulgarians who are avid fans of the late rap icon. Grab a movie ticket to confirm if the rumors are true. From Metrograph Pictures, The Black Sea will be released in select theaters starting Nov. 22, 2024. Find more information and showtimes for the film here.
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