Black Nativity
A street-wise teen from Baltimore who has been raised by a single mother travels to New York City to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged relatives, where he embarks on a surprising and inspirational journey.
2 August 2002
4 October 1980, New York City, New York, USA
30 September 1950, Detroit, Michigan, USA
December 11, 2013
This story of seasonal healing ultimately feels too predictable and heavy-handed to bring much uplifting Christmas cheer.
April 23, 2014
To call it preachy isn't necessarily a critique; the entire film is essentially built around a closing sermon.
November 28, 2013
Takes Hughes' nativity story and shoves it into the far background of a sincere but tritely told modern drama about family, faith, and redemption.
June 21, 2016
Some devices don't work as well as others, however Kasi Lemmons has made a film that lives and breathes, even if it at times it doesn't work
November 27, 2013
Its pastoral ambitions compensate for its lack of finesse.
November 28, 2013
Even the movie's most wretched characters glow in the Harlem lamplight.
April 07, 2014
Defiantly simple, like earlier stage pageants based on Langston Hughes' Christmas play, Kasi Lemmons' "Black Nativity" gains power through its directness.
November 28, 2013
Earnest, square and proudly evangelical, "Black Nativity" is so unusual that its rough aspects are easy to forgive.
March 21, 2017
Black Nativity is a jubilant experience.
December 09, 2013
By the time the credits rolled, my eyes were sore from all the rolling.
