68
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Village VoiceErnest HardyVillage VoiceErnest HardyWhat emerges is an illuminating look at the ways race, specifically blackness, has been cynically portrayed by the mainstream media, rightwing politicians and religious leaders, and even some white queer activists.
- 80The DissolveNoah BerlatskyThe DissolveNoah BerlatskyThe New Black is unabashedly pro-gay marriage, but it treats the other side respectfully. Opponents of gay marriage in the community are given their say.
- 75Slant MagazineNick McCarthySlant MagazineNick McCarthyIt does little to break free of the conventional talking-head documentary format, but thoughtful in how it prizes dialogue over acrimony and one-sided rhetoric.
- 75RogerEbert.comRogerEbert.comThe New Black is an informative, measured, and never-not-engaging documentary about the emergence of LGBT consciousness in African-American communities across the U.S., and particularly communities with a strong church presence.
- 70Los Angeles TimesMartin TsaiLos Angeles TimesMartin TsaiDirector Yoruba Richen has refreshingly avoided making this polemic into propaganda, a temptation many lesser documentarians could not resist.
- 70The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThe New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisMs. Richen elucidates an entire spectrum of views, from actively egalitarian to reactively homophobic.
- 70VarietyRonnie ScheibVarietyRonnie ScheibLaid-back yet incisive, The New Black examines the complexity of black attitudes toward same-sex marriage, which the mainstream media tend to oversimplify as church-dominated and uniformly negative.
- 58The A.V. ClubBen KenigsbergThe A.V. ClubBen KenigsbergThe film largely lacks the urgency its subject demands. It’s an extended news segment in the form of a feature film.
- 50New York PostFarran Smith NehmeNew York PostFarran Smith NehmeThe New Black often feels like a polished but uninspired op-ed.