Black Beauty

Reviews

As the wild horse and the heart-broken girl slowly bond, “Black Beauty” transforms into a heart-warming tale of the power of love.

– IndieWire, Kate Erbland

This 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.

– Film Threat, Sabina Dana Plasse

For more than a century, every generation has had its cinematic adaptation of “Black Beauty,” and while the new Disney+ version switches the genders of the magnificent horse as well as the young protagonist and moves the locale from the English countryside of the late 19th century to the American West of today, it’s thematically and spiritually faithful to Anna Sewell’s timeless classic, from the horse serving as narrator to the episodic nature of the storyline to the powerful and still-relevant message about humane treatment of animals — and the undeniably healing and lasting dynamic between human and creature.
I loved this movie. Yes, it’s an unapologetically sentimental, anthropomorphic, family-friendly, sugar-sweet story aimed squarely at the younger members of your brood — and stop me if you think there’s anything wrong with that. This is a beautifully uplifting film at a time we can all use a dose of old-fashioned, cynicism-free storytelling. Writer-director Ashley Avis and her production team have created a gorgeous, sweeping epic (please watch this on the biggest screen available in your house), with Kate Winslet voicing Black Beauty’s thoughts and feelings to heart-melting effect, the wonderfully talented Mackenzie Foy delivering a sublime performance as the girl who finds a kindred spirit in Black Beauty, and Iain Glen from “Game of Thrones” and “Downton Abbey” playing the most dashing and empathetic horse whisperer this side of Robert Redford.
“Black Beauty” isn’t one of those photorealistic movies with animals literally talking, e.g., the most recent versions of “The Lion King” and “Doctor Dolittle.” From the moment we meet the energetic and adventure-seeking mustang foal who will be named Black Beauty, roaming free in the wild with her mother and extended family, her thoughts and emotions are expressed through Winslet’s warm and comforting voice-over.
The 2020 edition of “Black Beauty” is among the best versions I’ve ever seen.

– Chicago Sun, Richard Roeper