Black Nativity

Play trailer

Black Nativity

PG

2013

1h 33m

Holiday

Musical

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

51%

Tomatometer

87 Reviews

51%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Langston (Jacob Latimore), a Baltimore teen raised by a single mother (Jennifer Hudson), travels to New York City to spend the Christmas holiday with estranged relatives, the Rev. Cornell Cobbs (Forest Whitaker) and his wife, Aretha (Angela Bassett). However, Langston soon finds that Cobbs has strict rules, and the youth is unwilling to follow them. Instead, he sets out on a return journey to his mother and finds the value of faith, healing and family along the way.

Watch on Fandango

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

It's sweetly amiable and solidly performed, but Black Nativity suffers from director Kasi Lemmons' heavy-handed treatment of its celebrated source material.

Read Critics Reviews

Dwight Brown

National Newspaper Publishers Association

03/21/2017

Black Nativity is a jubilant experience.

Go to Full Review

Wesley Morris

Grantland

12/10/2013

All of Black Nativity proceeds with sort of clumsy obviousness.

Go to Full Review

Max Nelson

Film Comment Magazine

12/09/2013

To my eyes, Black Nativity is the cinematic equivalent of a Christmas tree ornament: shiny, hollow, sheathed in decorative, artificial linings, mass-produced and, given the cost of today's movie theater tickets, overpriced.

Go to Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

09/03/2020

3.0/4.0

If not for the presence of Oscar winner Forest Whitaker, Black Nativity would likely be an easily tossed away film for anyone.

Go to Full Review

Allen Almachar

The MacGuffin

07/28/2020

B-

We're in that strange area where a film balances between two opposite ends: it's impossible to hate, but really tough to love

Go to Full Review

Julian Lytle

Punch Drunk Critics

01/11/2020

2.5/5

To wrap up, Black Nativity isn't the best holiday film we have this season and probably won't clean up at the cinema because in the end it's just a quite average movie.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Vanessa H

@RT81298967 05/23/2024

It’s a shame what a low rating this movie has. It’s a beautiful musical with wonderful and soulful voices. There is a lot of great talent; I was especially impressed by the young actor, Jacob Latimore. It’s a positive and uplifting movie. It is also a nice tribute to Langston Hughes; it is based off of his play.

See more

kyle m

@RufusMorgan 12/03/2022

The heavy handedness of the message mixes beautifully with Forest Whitaker's performance as the intense Reverend. Far better than Netflix's "Jingle Jangle" Black Nativity captures the story from the Bible, while also elevating African-American culture, creating a gorgeous and moving film.

See more

r 9

@RT00952237 05/02/2021

I was, for the most part, feeling pleasant enough about this... until that ending. It's not that 'Black Nativity' ends badly, it's just so incredibly forced and cringeworthy. It's a Christmas film so I guess I could cut it some slack, but I feel it could've concluded things much better. Some of the character decisions felt odd at times, also. One of the reasons as to why I was actually finding this satisfactory throughout is the cast - loads of recognisable and likeable faces. Forest Whitaker (Cornell) is honestly great, his performance is the only one I'd class as anything over 'good'. Jacob Latimore (Langston) and Angela Bassett (Aretha) are the best of the rest, though I always like watching 'Fast & Furious' star Tyrese Gibson act too. All in all, nothing positive or negative... just average.

See more

georgan g

@RT98616417 02/28/2021

An ok musical but not much of a film.

See more

11/24/2020

We loved this movie! It was marvelously written and performed!

See more

04/27/2019

Loved it! The mustc was awesome. I'm so proud Kasi Lemmons and the attributes she will bring to young people that want to become directors or screen writers. There's a great message in this movie through music.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Kasi Lemmons

Director

Forest Whitaker

Rev. Cornell Cobbs

Angela Bassett

Aretha Cobbs

Jennifer Hudson

Naima

Tyrese Gibson

Loot

Jacob Latimore

Langston

Believe

33%

69%

Believe

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Believe

Jem and the Holograms

22%

40%

Jem and the Holograms

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Jem and the Holograms

Lovely, Still

73%

74%

Lovely, Still

Watchlist

The Nativity Story

37%

76%

The Nativity Story

Watchlist

Noel

28%

48%

Noel

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Critics Consensus: Frozen is Certified Fresh

View more photos

Synopsis

Langston (Jacob Latimore), a Baltimore teen raised by a single mother (Jennifer Hudson), travels to New York City to spend the Christmas holiday with estranged relatives, the Rev. Cornell Cobbs (Forest Whitaker) and his wife, Aretha (Angela Bassett). However, Langston soon finds that Cobbs has strict rules, and the youth is unwilling to follow them. Instead, he sets out on a return journey to his mother and finds the value of faith, healing and family along the way.

Director: Kasi Lemmons
Producer: Celine Rattray, William Horberg, Galt Niederhoffer, T. D. Jakes
Screenwriter: Kasi Lemmons
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Wonderful Films, Maven Pictures
Rating: PG (Language|A Menacing Situation|Thematic Material)
Genre: Holiday, Musical, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 27, 2013, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 31, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $7.0M
Runtime: 1h 33m
Sound Mix: Datasat, SDDS, Dolby Digital