In the American fish-out-of-water dramedy, “The Black Sea” an unreliable yet charming New Yorker is suddenly transported to Bulgaria. Khalid (Derrick B. Harden) comes from Brooklyn but wishes to head back if he makes enough money, which is a difficult task considering his passport is either lost or impossible to obtain. To Khalid, Bulgaria is an exotic land and its people, who are largely polite but timid, quickly make it evident that he is a foreigner. (It appears that the country lacks black tourists). It is believed that Khalid is a fun-loving freeloader until he is called upon to prove his character which makes his story seem dubious at the best.
The Black Sea feels more like the anticlimactic and laughable end to an indie show. There are hints of a climax between Khalid and Georgi, but everything feels quite forced. Khalid’s story does not give context to the relationship’s build so it goes nowhere, instead, we follow Khalid as he departs from Brownsville after receiving an offer he cannot refuse from Facebook. A mysterious woman was going to give him $10,000 for touching her. Khalid very much excitedly quits his barista job after getting berated again heatedly for being late, and instantly flies to Bulgaria, only to find out the woman died right before he could reach her.
Khalid is in a tough spot and, unsurprisingly, no one at home is willing to lend him money, considering he owes every talking head. He befriends local travel agent Ina (Irmena Chichikova) and with some effort, Khalid manages to hustle his way into different jobs, which helps him get from one opportunity to another. I mean, Khalid is not taking life head on and that is fine, but seriously, it would have been nice if he didn’t waste our time in Bulgaria by showing us how he idles from one episode to the next with only studiously soft focus.
Similar to several American comedies based in foreign, non-English-speaking countries “The Black Sea” draws heavily on a myriad of presumptions that go unexamined regarding living away from home. In the film, Khalid’s Bulgarian followers either highly suspect him or flirt with him due to his friendly demeanor and brown skin. For the most part, they seem to respond to his heightened energy and, more importantly, his interest in them, and subsequently, they appear to be quite flattered. That’s it. When Khalid opens a café that serves matcha green tea and grilled cheese in Bulgaria, he brings a piece of home with him. He jokes that ever since Brooklyn has been gentrified, he craves matcha. That’s not the setup to a joke; that’s the whole gag.
Even if things between Khalid and Ina never turn romantic, Ina provides Khalid with something to keep himself busy. There are a few moments in which it looks like Georgi and Khalid are about to give each other a good beating, particularly after it is discovered that Georgi is not only Raya’s son but also Ina’s ex. Yet that revelation largely only serves to corroborate the small size of Bulgaria. After all, it is a country in which every person knows all the other people, which makes the movie’s stock characterizations and routine plot so infuriating. Sorry to say, every person in this film acts in whatever manner is required by the last scene or the last action. None of these people appears to have any inner life or emotions beyond their simple needs, and therefore it is more and more impossible to become interested in what happens to Khalid and his relationships with Ina, the café, and Bulgaria. And worst of all, the film’s organically lit hand-held photography and frantic editing completely kills the performances of the actors.
The absence of social commentary in this feature, especially when the main character is an African-American man who is headed to a foreign country is rather bizarre. He is heading there because a psychic (Nefiz Mehmed) tells a dying white woman, “You need to find a Black man.” How does it feel to be one of the two dark-skinned men in Bulgaria? What does it mean when Ina tells a fellow Bulgarian that Khalid isn’t a “migrant,” but rather a “tourist”? The film does not really explain this and does not develop the will-they-wo-n’t-they situation between Khalid and Ina. That is quite a shame because Chichikova and Harden have wonderful chemistry.
“The Black Sea” treads cautiously around certain stereotypes and acknowledges that individuals are aware of their cultural differences. Even when in a foreign country that is quite reserved towards outsiders, it is still possible to set aside all preconceived notions and simply address the person standing before you. Is that the case with Bulgaria? Is that the case with Khalid? One can only guess so much without making wild assumptions that, for whatever reason, the creators of “The Black Sea” chose to leave out. Their feel-good film, instead, flows from one event to another caring much less of the solutions that need attending and instead focusing on placating the audience into believing that nothing will go wrong, no matter the situation.
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