Naman Shrestha
Helmed by Tyler Perry, Amazon Prime’s ‘Divorce in the Black’ is a thriller drama film that follows a young bank professional named Ava, who has tried everything in her power to save her marriage with Dallas but to no avail. Acting all distant and estranged, her husband slowly abandons their marriage, leaving her heartbroken and devastated. Ava then moves in with her parents as she decides to bounce back and start afresh, as advised by her friends.
However, her estranged husband stops Ava in her tracks just as she is about to find love again. With intentions to sabotage her destiny to connect with her soulmate, Dallas comes up with a malicious plan of action. Starring Meagan Good, Cory Hardrict, Joseph Lee Anderson, Taylor Polidore Williams, and Richard Lawson, the movie taps into several realistic elements of a divorce, leaving the viewers questioning the authenticity of the story.
Tyler Perry’s Divorce in the Black is a Fictional Tale
While the filmmaker Tyler Perry, who also served as the writer of the movie, was in the process of coming up with the story for ‘Divorce in the Black,’ he used his creativity and weaved a fictional tale filled with various real-life themes of marriage and divorce. Tyler told Deadline, “Making ‘Divorce In The Black’ was born out of wanting to tell Ava’s story. She is surrounded by all this power through her foundation – her family and friends. She has all the power inside of her, but that power is somehow lost in her marriage. So it was important for her character to find her way, to show that journey back to her power.”
Several cast members, including Meagan Good, Cory Hardrict, and Richard Lawson, have experienced marriage and divorce first-hand, allowing them to translate their experiences onto the screen and add a hint of realism to the otherwise made-up story of Ava and Dallas. Although Meagan could not resonate with all the issues that her character, Ava, goes through in the film, she managed to lean on the stories and experiences of her close ones. She opened up during a conversation with The Root, “I haven’t experienced all of what Ava was going through. But just having character studies, having friends that have been through that kind of thing, and just trying to be as honest as possible and as authentic as possible.”
Divorce in the Black Taps Into Reality Through the Realistic Nature of Characters
Apart from showcasing real-life elements of divorce, ‘Divorce in the Black’ is “about how two different families from both sides of the track juggle and deal with it and those family dynamics,” as Cory Hardrict stated in an interview with Pop Culturalist. He added, “But it’s also a film that shows that divorce is not the end all, be all. You still have a chance to get back on track, especially from the female lead’s perspective and my own as well. It shows you that the future’s bright and you can turn any situation around. That’s what the movie shows.” Portraying a character like Dallas, Cory also acknowledged that most of the character traits of Dallas are a result of all the trauma that he suffered in his childhood, which is also the case in reality.
If one doesn’t work on healing the trauma, it can take over their adult life and affect their relationships with others. This is portrayed realistically through Dallas by Tyler Perry. Cory elaborated, “He didn’t know how to process that. So it’s important that you do take the time to do that work. That’s important for anyone who’s watching this. But it just shows that he’s a real person. We don’t have it all figured out. He shouldn’t be stuck in the mistakes that he’s made in his life because you always have another chance. This movie shows you that you have another chance as long as you keep going.” All in all, even though the story is not based on reality, certain themes and subject matters, along with the characters, reflect real life in more than one way.
Read More: All Tyler Perry Movies and Shows on Netflix
