Born free in the American West, Black Beauty is a horse rounded up and brought to Birtwick Stables, where she meets spirited teenager Jo Green. The two forge a bond that carries Beauty through the different chapters, challenges and adventures.... (Full plot summary below)
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Born free in the American West, Black Beauty is a horse rounded up and brought to Birtwick Stables, where she meets spirited teenager Jo Green. The two forge a bond that carries Beauty through the different chapters, challenges and adventures.
Leave your thoughts about Black Beauty.
| Paste MagazineAmy AmatangeloAn inspiring movie for young, old and everyone in between, I would be shocked if the movie’s final moments didn’t lead to a cathartic cry for every viewer. The beauty of this story is timeless. |
| Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganAs Avis softly underlines, not everything has changed for man’s servants. And although we know the beats of this story, it’s a classic for a reason: Disney+’s Black Beauty gives a great yarn a good exercise. |
| IndieWireKate ErblandSewell’s book has always been a better fit for piecemeal storytelling — the book itself is divided up by Beauty’s owners — and while Avis’ script does keep the relationship between Beauty and Jo at its center, that lends an uneven treatment to many of Beauty’s later adventures. |
| Film ThreatSabina Dana PlasseThis updated version of Black Beauty is well-done and touches upon some important points about being connected to animals, nature, and learning to care for others. |
| Movie NationRoger MooreWith its obvious melodrama, obviously misleading “locations” and even more obvious big stunts, Black Beauty doesn’t transcend its sentimental children’s entertainment origins. But Avis more than does the novel justice. |
| New York PostSara StewartThis is a Disney adaptation, beautiful but frequently treacly. |
| CNNBrian LowryBlack Beauty gives the original Victorian novel a significant makeover, a contemporary remake that relocates the story to the American West. The movie delivers a more pointed animal-rights message, but while its equine star fares well enough, the two-footed characters never really get out of the starting gate. |
| The New York TimesRobert DanielsAvis loses the novel’s sincerity by watering down Sewell’s animal welfare plea. In this update, the humans are not as villainous. Beauty is not as prominent. And the novel’s mustang spirit diminishes into a ho-hum horse movie. |
| RogerEbert.comMonica CastilloWhile much of this Black Beauty strays from the original, the spirit of empathy and combatting animal cruelty remain intact. |
| The GuardianPeter BradshawIt’s a sonorously well-meaning film that bathes everything in the bland, buttery sunlight that Disney always produces and in which the human performances are as opaque as the ones given by the horses |
