Look, when a movie has a title as bold as The American Society of Magical Negroes, you would like to assume whoever made it has the confidence to back it up. For the most part, this feature debut from writer-director Kobi Libii (The Opposition with Jordan Klepper) does manage to walk that line between satirical hilarity and hard-to-swallow commentary on the Black experience in America in an original and entertaining way. However, almost all of this good faith is eventually fumbled at the very last minute in an extraordinarily frustrating fashion.
The American Society of Magical Negroes tells the story of a young man and yarn artist named Aren (Justice Smith). He’s the textbook definition of a pushover, constantly apologizing to everyone around him and never standing up for himself or even his art. One fateful evening, Aren’s solo show gets rejected and a misunderstanding over a purse almost causes him some serious bodily harm. That is, until a magical older Black man named Roger (legendary comedian David Alan Grier) suddenly appears to save him, changing his life forever in the process.
Roger pulls the curtain back for Aren and reveals a secret society of magical Black people that have been operating for generations, officially called “The American Society of Magical Negroes.” They dedicate themselves to a cause of utmost importance: lean into (and we can assume they created it to start with) the Magical Negro trope that’s been seen far too often in media in order to appease White people and thus make life safer and easier for Black people. White comfort is both their business and their duty; as Roger tells Aren in one of the film’s more eyebrow-raising lines, the Society’s work does more good than “a hundred marches.”
It’s hard not to admire the gutsiness and ambition that Kobi Libii brings to his debut feature. The American Society of Magical Negroes tackles painful truths about the neverending struggles Black Americans are faced with on a daily basis but attempts to engage with those issues in a palatable and fun way for audiences. While obviously not a perfect comparison, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie pulled a similar magic trick last year in the way the satirical comedy addressed feminism, the patriarchy, and other gender issues through a fantastical setting of its own.
Riffing on problematic portrayals like The Green Mile, The Legend of Bagger Vance, and Song of the South (which Disney has tried incredibly hard to remove from history), Libii’s screenplay explores the ways in which these tropes and images continue to shape our world today with a sharp satirical bite. The jokes have an immediate edge to them and the film’s sheer audacity helps make it all the more hilarious, though what’s most impressive is the way it manages to balance that humor with its weighty subject matter. There’s plenty of sincerity to be found as well.
Led by a scenery-chewing Nicole Byer (Nailed It!) as Dede, one of the Society’s mission statements is for their members to always present themselves as authentically Black, but never to the point that they risk the comfort of their White clients. As one can guess, Aren’s journey has him push against the Society’s older way of doing things with a more modern and uncompromising view of Black existence in America. Roger and his generation swallowed their pride and catered to White people’s lives as a means of survival, however, as Aren begins working under the rules and methods of the organization, he finds it harder and harder to hold his tongue out in the world.
This is all great until the plot makes a strange pivot about halfway through, which winds up shrinking both its scale and the urgency of its message. Aren is assigned to help improve the life of average White tech bro Jason (Drew Tarver), but things get complicated once he falls head over heels in love with his smart and charming co-worker Lizzie (a scene-stealing An-Li Bogan). The story suddenly goes from a fantastical satire to a full-blown romantic comedy, and it’s a move that The American Society of Magical Negroes never quite recovers from. What’s worse, it starts to feel like it’s a little better at being the latter than the former, ultimately making for a movie that seems a bit at war with itself.
Justice Smith (Pokémon Detective Pikachu, Generation) and An-Li Bogan (After Yang) have outstanding onscreen chemistry, and it’s a sweet sentiment that love is Aren’s ultimate motivator for wanting to be his authentic self even if that means going against the Society’s wishes. And yet, the movie still feels slighted by this genre shift in the script, muddling its own ambitions before outright botching its ending with a very miscalculated final twist/gag. Although it’s best to not spoil the moment so you can experience the kind of pure bewilderment it delivers for yourself, I must say that I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a final shot that undercuts everything that came before so thoroughly. The simple act of cutting this one short scene would immediately make the film much, much better.
The American Society of Magical Negroes is a mixed bag of engaging ideas about Blackness in the United States, and while it can’t quite reconcile its juxtaposing approach, it still deserves credit for the daring ways it attempts to push the conversation. For every area it frustratingly falls short in, it delivers a few confidently funny and insightful takes that stick with you. It’s a movie that invites discussion from a variety of angles, and there’s undeniable merit in that. But seriously, remove that last scene and you’ve got a dramatically superior film. Sometimes it’s that easy.
Directed by Kobi Libii.
Written by Kobi Libii.
Produced by Julia Lebedev, Eddie Vaisman, Angel Lopez, & Kobi Libii.
Main Cast: Justice Smith, David Alan Grier, An-Li Bogan, Drew Tarver, Michaela Watkins, Aisha Hinds, Tim Baltz, Rupert Friend & Nicole Byer.
Cinematographer: Doug Emmett.
Composer: Michael Abels.
Production Companies: Sight Unseen & Juba Lane.
Distributor: Focus Features.
Runtime: 105 minutes.
Rated PG-13.
