There have been a lot of great black films released since 2010. So many, in fact, that it’s kind of hard to keep up with all the quality cinema.
Now’s your chance to update your various queues so you can get caught up.
All of these African-American films received a 60% rating or better on Rotten Tomatoes. Here are the trailers and a brief review of each of the 20 films.
1. The Book of Eli (2010)
“A post-apocalyptic tale in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind.”
2. For Colored Girls (2010)
“Each of the women portray one of the characters represented in Ntozake Shange’s 1975 collection of 20 poems, revealing different issues that impact women in general and women of color in particular.”
3. The Karate Kid (2010)
“Work causes a single mother to move to China with her young son; in his new home, the boy embraces kung fu, taught to him by a master.”
4. Takers (2010)
“A group of bank robbers find their multi-million dollar plan interrupted by a hard-boiled detective.”
5. Just Wright (2010)
“A physical therapist falls for the basketball player she is helping recover from a career-threatening injury.”
6. Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010)
“Four couples find themselves struggling to save their marriages once again on their annual marriage retreat, while each of them battles through financial, physical, mental, and emotional issues.”
7. Night Catches Us (2010)
“In 1976, complex political and emotional forces are set in motion when a young man returns to the race-torn Philadelphia neighborhood where he came of age during the Black Power movement.”
8. The Help (2011)
“An aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African American maids’ point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis.”
9. Pariah (2011)
“A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.”
10. Sorry to Bother You (2018)
“In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success, propelling him into a universe of greed.”
11. Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
“Faced with both her hot-tempered father’s fading health and melting ice-caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community and unleash ancient aurochs, 6-year-old Hushpuppy must learn the ways of courage and love.”
12. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
“A young woman embraces her pregnancy while she and her family set out to prove her childhood friend and lover is innocent of a crime he didn’t commit.”
13. Flight (2012)
“An airline pilot saves almost all his passengers on his malfunctioning airliner which eventually crashed, but an investigation into the accident reveals something troubling.”
14. Good Deeds (2012)
“Businessman Wesley Deeds is jolted out of his scripted life when he meets Lindsey, a single mother who works on the cleaning crew in his office building.”
15. The Hate U Give (2018)
“Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Now, facing pressure from all sides of the community, Starr must find her voice and stand up for what’s right.”
16. Black Panther (2018)
“T’Challa, heir to the hidden but advanced kingdom of Wakanda, must step forward to lead his people into a new future and must confront a challenger from his country’s past.”
17. BlacKkKlansman (2018)
“Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer from Colorado Springs, Colorado, successfully manages to infiltrate the local Ku Klux Klan branch with the help of a Jewish surrogate who eventually becomes its leader. Based on actual events.”
18. 12 Years a Slave (2013)
“In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.”
19. Get Out (2017)
“A young African-American visits his white girlfriend’s parents for the weekend, where his simmering uneasiness about their reception of him eventually reaches a boiling point.”
20. I Am Not Your Negro (2016)
“Writer James Baldwin tells the story of race in modern America with his unfinished novel, Remember This House.”
How many of those have you seen?
Think there are some that need to be on the list that didn’t make it? Share them in the comments?