Blumhouse is kicking off Halloween early with the introduction of “Welcome to The Blumhouse” on Prime Video, where they will be premiering four thrillers just in time for Spooky Season. The first to hit the streaming service was Black Box on Oct. 6. Veteran actress Phylicia Rashād, Mamoudou Athie, Amanda Chrisitne, Tosin Morohunfola and Charmaine Bingwa star in this sci-fi/horror film directed and written by Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour and co-written by Stephan Herman. This four part series is produced by horror juggernaut, Jason Blum.
The story begins with father Nolan (Athie) struggling to regain his memory from a fatal car accident that killed his wife leaving him brain dead for days to only survive with amnesia. Nolan is trying to raise his daughter Ava (Christine) with the best of his ability and partial memory. When he recognizes how his failing memory is leaving his daughter with only a fraction of her father, however, he finally takes the advice of his best friend and doctor Gary (Morohunfola) to get help for his condition through acclaimed neurologist Lillian Woods (Rashad). However, to Nolan’s surprise, Lillian’s coveted Black Box is retrieving memories that aren’t familiar to him, leaving Nolan frightened that he may not be the man that he thought he was.
The film is successful at making the viewer feel as frustrated as Nolan in the first moments of the film. It’s here that Nolan is scrambling to remember himself; an anonymous hole punched in the wall of his home, a forgotten signature handshake between himself and his daughter and even forgetting to pick her up from school resulting in a threat to be reported to Child Services. You even feel conflicted in liking Nolan or not, because – just like him – the viewer is uncovering some unsavory memories with him as he goes “under” in his hypnotic sessions in the Black Box. Osei-Kuffour successfully scrambled the puzzle of this plot in order to throw the audience off of the scent of the true story while landing on an unsuspecting antagonist. Osei-Kuffour also made sure to add classic horror elements with shadowy beings and a distorted haunting figure.
For a self-proclaimed horror film lover, Black Box was one that I could watch alone and with the lights off. However, the plot made you stick around by wanting to find out what happened to Nolan and if he is the good guy he is portrayed as. This film makes the audience question what memories lie beneath and how they affect our identity. As the director’s debut film, Black Box is a solid genre mixing thriller the family can enjoy.
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