[FANTASIA 2019] ‘BLACK MAGIC FOR WHITE BOYS’ Review

When a fledgling magician is at risk of losing his venue, drastic measures need to be taken. The ragtag group of employees is a bit taken aback by the real magic that Larry (Ronald Guttman) begins using, and their trap door disappearing act is replaced with a real, magic-word-and-wave-of-cape disappearing trick. A double date attending the event are slightly astonished when Larry makes one of their friends disappear. When they ask him where he went, he can’t recall. Two of the double date are on a FIRST date, Oscar (Onur Tukel) and Chase (Charlie LaRose). Months later they’re in a relationship, and despite a conversation on that very first date about Oscar not wanting children and Chase revealing she’s barren…she’s, of course, pregnant. Oscar would very much like to get rid of this child, and Chase isn’t very willing. How can these two worlds possibly come together? This is Black Magic For White Boys.

[AdSense-A]

Yes, this movie is dark. There’s a moment or two that is terrifying. But overall, it’s a relationship comedy. Tukel (also writer/director) is one of the best asshole actors working today. In all of the films I’ve seen of Tukel’s — like Summer of Blood and Catfight, for example — the main characters are generally unlikeable people who are so well written that you actually enjoy watching how awful they are. Tukel is a great writer; with his New York sensibility, the films often come across like Woody Allen with a head injury, now making genre pictures. The characters are flawed, secure in their insecurity or fake-it-til-you-make-it vibe. The humor is witty, often dark, often biting, and very conversational. Black Magic is no exception to this.

The movie feels a little bit scatterbrained with all the characters and their different motivations happening. There’s a nagging wife that Larry is in the midst of dealing with, a push from the staff to develop an open mic night in order to keep the venue open, and a romance within the staff between a new assistant and a little person. What does it all mean? I don’t know if I entirely know still. Part of the fun of the movie is seeing how these things come together, which I won’t spoil here. I’d say this is worth a shot for someone in the mood for a dark comedy that’s socially aware, uncomfortable, and a bit of a cautionary tale. Not my favorite Tukel, but it’s pretty great.

Unfortunately, outside of playing Fantasia 2019, there doesn’t appear to be any distribution information yet.