‘The Black Sea’ Review – Laid-Back Comedy Offers Refreshing Adventure [SXSW 2024]

The Black Sea doesn’t ask for much. It’s a relatively unassuming adventure, shot in a purposefully choppy docu-style manner that both grounds the film and floats the surprisingly acute humor when it’s offered. It moseys along and, while surely taking itself seriously, presents a day-by-day look at a scenario so specific that what results is just the same. The Black Sea is a breath of fresh air, the kind of film that’ll bring a smile to your face for 90 minutes and continue to amble aimlessly well after you’re gone. It’s a kind of quintessential take-it-or-leave-it encounter.

You aren’t going to feel that much either way. There is a small dose of impact in the long run, a suggestion of change that certainly carries an inherent power; when the focus narrows in and the point is purported past all the shenanigans, it’s a compelling picture. Yet, after a while, the shenanigans may become your preferred outlet for this crew anyway, and you can’t be blamed.

After all, the film simply follows a man from Brooklyn who gets stuck in a small Bulgarian town, quickly becoming the center of attention as the only Black person there. It sounds thin, but as it turns out, the concept fuels a well-paced hour and a half of fun. Derrick B. Harden is infectious in the lead role. To a stupefying extent, he interacts with the town on multiple levels, each offering their own individual interactions to his mannerisms and confused tendencies. He’s inhumanly convincing; it feels as if the camera isn’t even on him. But of course, it is.

The camera stays close, circling conversations and only cutting when it has to (or when it advances a joke, which is hilariously often). Things speed up when the soundtrack queues a needle-drop, in between bouts of the wiry original score that pushes the rare tones of drama. By the end of the film, it feels like we’ve seen the entire town, meeting citizens of all stripes, all behind Khalid, a memorably charismatic lead.  

The Black Sea is similar to the Borat films in many ways. Obviously, it isn’t as far-fetched as that one, and on opposite ends, it isn’t as funny at its peak nor obnoxious at its lowest. But the way that they’re both shot, exploring locations on rails, anchored to a main character who sticks out in his environment like a sore thumb yet still manages to fit in… it’s a peculiar genre that The Black Sea does very well.

Though, unlike Borat, this is a human story to the bone, forgetting suggestions and jabs in favor of plainly showing what it’s like to get along with one another. There are segments of engineered tension to break things up, naturally, but we’re really just following one guy around on his journey to figure out a situation that only movies are made of. A talk between a local man and Khalid about dreams towards the end of the film encapsulates every bit of power present here; it sums up the absolute best of what the film can be.

From Brooklyn to Bulgaria, The Black Sea is a fascinating comedy of the type that we need more of. It isn’t breaking new ground in the genre or anything, but you can hop on and hop off, no questions asked. What do you have to lose?

The weightlessness, while ensuring a ceiling for the project, on the whole, is more refreshing than it is restricting. Check this one out if you get the chance; just kick back and let it roll over you. It’s a low-key highlight of the 2024 release calendar so far.

The Black Sea had its World Premiere at SXSW 2024 in the Narrative Spotlight section.

Directors: Crystal Moselle, Derrick B. Harden

Rated: NR

Runtime: 96m