Beauty in Black – Review | Netflix

BEAUTY IN BLACK on Netflix is a new Tyler Perry production and this time it’s an entire series. 16 episodes in total, but only the first 8 are out now as “Part 1.” This is classic Tyler Perry, so if you’re a fan you’re in luck. Read our Beauty in Black series review here!

BEAUTY IN BLACK is a new Netflix series from Tyler Perry. If you’ve watched any of the previous Tyler Perry productions on Netflix, you know what to expect. In other words, if you liked his previous work, you’ll probably be happy.

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If you’re not crazy about his style, you may want to skip this one. Especially as there are 16 episodes, each around 45 minutes, in the season. It’s divided into two, so only the first 8 episodes are released as part 1, much like the most recent season of YOU.

Continue reading our Beauty in Black series review below. Find the first half of the season on Netflix from October 24, 2024.

Life of the rich and struggling in Atlanta

With Tyler Perry’s Beauty in Black, we’re getting the story of two women leading very different lives. Kimmie is struggling to make ends meet after her mother kicked her out just days before she turned 18 years old. Mallory, on the other hand, married into a wealthy family and is running a successful hair care business.

The two find themselves entangled in each other’s lives and neither is too happy about it. Maybe because they aren’t too happy in their lives in general. However, to be fair, nobody seems very happy in Tyler Perry’s Beauty in Black.

Also, not too many characters are even remotely likable. Whether rich or struggling in Atlanta, Georgia, where the story takes place, everyone is miserable. Both worlds are full of drugs and complicated unhappy relationships, where money doesn’t help much, but it means everything.

A raunchy R-rated soap opera vibe

Whenever I watch any Tyler Perry productions on Netflix (of the thriller variety), I always get the feeling that I’m watching a raunchy R-rated soap opera. There is a lot of skin, always some steamy scenes (often with a touch of violence to them), and a lot of swearing.

I mean, I know I have a colorful language and drop F-bombs constantly when speaking, but this is on another level. Everyone is calling each other “bitch”, “a-hole” or “mofo”.

Yeah, I’m trying to keep it clean here, but it’s pretty extreme in Beauty in Black.

I think even Samuel L. Jackson would feel like it’s a bit excessive with the constant use of Motherf***er. I felt like a pearl-clutching overly sensitive Karen-type, even though I’m known to swear constantly myself.

Still, it just feels lazy for this series. As in; if they cut out all the swear words, the dialogue would be cut in half. It’s wild!

Watch Beauty in Black on Netflix now

Tyler Perry is (as always) the creator, director, writer, and executive producer of the Netflix production bearing his name. Beauty in Black is a Tyler Perry Studios production, so he makes it and Netflix distributes it. And clearly, there’s an audience for his productions. Like Chris Stokes on Tubi, I guess.

Apparently, Tyler Perry found inspiration from “dual strip clubs around Atlanta” in the 1990s. Also, he’s familiar with families of real-life hair care dynasties, so he had plenty to draw from. The story itself, however, is pure fiction and meant simply to entertain.

The cast delivers exactly what the story requires. While I am not crazy about the story or the characters, as they’re written, it is through no fault of the actors. Why do we cover this series? Well, because someone is the victim of a hit-and-run in episode 1, and that’s just the first person we see hurt.

Plus, there is a lot of crime in this series, which is a crime thriller as much as it’s a drama. The drama, however, does feel quite soapy.

Beauty in Black Part 1 is on Netflix on October 24, 2024.

Details

Creator, writer & director: Tyler Perry
Stars: Taylor Polidore Williams, Amber Reign Smith, Crystle Stewart, Ricco Ross, Debbi Morgan, Richard Lawson, Steven G. Norfleet, Julian Horton