Nolan, played by Manmoudou Athie is going through his family album but doesn't remember anything, as he lost his memories and his wife at an accident. He even sometimes forgets about his daughter Ava, played by Amanda Christine, and sometimes to bring her back to home from school. Nolan has tried everything, taken treatments from many doctors but got no outcomes. His friend, Gary, played by Tosin Morohunfola tells him to go to Dr. Brooks as she's very experienced in this field. Nolan starts his treatment under Dr. Lillian Brooks, played by Phylicia Rashad, and she tells him about the Black Box, a headset. She further explains to him, that he'll be first hypnotized so that he could open up his subconscious. The EEG will extract all the memories of him, in the form of brain waves which will be ultimately converted into immersive virtual experience. In short, he'll relive his memories. But in those memories, he confronts something supernatural, a twisted, out of shape man, follows him in all his remembrances. Who is that man? Is Dr. Brooks has something evil in her mind for Nolan? The movie has all the answers.
The story and screenplay have been written by Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr. and Stephen Herman. The plot is very intriguing and the screenplay is quite good. Some scenes are well written, for example, the scenes between Nolan and Ava and between Miranda and Nolan. The scenes are very natural and engaging. Nolan's character is the soul of the film, others are just there, just for the sake of it. Dialogues are good, it's natural where it's required, and technical where it needs to be. So on the script level, it is quite good.
Manmoudou Athie as Nolan has done a reasonably good job. He is believable in every scene. Phylicia Rashad as Dr. Brooks is good but suffers from being half baked. You'll not feel her why she's doing to what's she is doing to Nolan. You'll understand her but not feel her. Amanda Christine shines as Ava. She's so small but she's talented. She has a bright future ahead of her. Tosin Morohunfola as Gary, Nolan's supportive friend, is natural, a very positive character. Charmaine Bingwa as Miranda is outstanding. She has only two scenes and she's quite impressive in it. Donald Elise Watkins as Thomas is average.
The cinematography by Hilda Mercado is good. Editing by Glenn Garland is quite nice, the pace is slow but it's not the mistake of the Editor, it's the screenplay that demands it to be. The Production Design by Ryan Martin Dwyer and Art Direction by Spencer Davison and Nealy Orillion is very accurate and spot on.
Special Effects by Mik Kastner and Visual Effects by Matthew T. Lynn and Brad Moylan are top-notch.
Black Box directed by Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr. stands as a unique and novel movie. Here, Nolan struggles from memory loss, at the same time wants to give his daughter everything he can, but he fails. A mother wants to bring back his son from the dead and she's so determined and fanatical about it, that it doesn't matter to her if somebody could die (brain dead) as a consequence of her experiment. Characters could've been more developed especially Dr. Brooks. It's understandable but no emotional attachment though. Other than this, it's a good film, you can at least watch it once, you'll like it.
Rating:- 3/5
Now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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