‘The Magnificent and the Black Hole’ Review: Finding Magic in Rage


Sammy Ko (Miya Cech), the protagonist of this dark coming-of-age comedy, ticks all the boxes for teenage anxiety. He smokes at school and goes out; secretly tattoos himself in the bedroom with primitive equipment; and gets flogged against his father Angus (Leonardo Nam) for dating so soon after his mother’s death.

When Angus comes to his senses with Sammy, he gives him an ultimatum: commit to a community-college class or go to a camp for troubled kids. During a cigarette break in the college bathroom, Sammy meets Margot (Rhea Perlman), a strange magician who turns Sammy into his reluctant apprentice.

This is the setting for writer-director Kate Tsang’s first feature film, The Magnificent and the Black Hole, which combines folklore, sketch art and the magic of sleight of hand to explore grief, family bonds, and how to channel anger.

Cech is believable as a troubled teenager and refreshing to see an Asian American girl as a heroine, but the movie has a limited emotional range, jumping between several plot elements without fully resolving them. Scenes showing how this death affected Sammy’s relationship with his sister Patricia, or what the family dynamic was before the tragedy, are missing. The film instead focuses on Sammy’s all-consuming rage and self-destruction, giving it a one-note feel with few moments of liberation or connection.

Magnificent and Black Hole
Not rated. Run time 1 hour 21 minutes. In movie theaters.



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *