For a moment, imagine the panic, the frustration, the fish-out-of-water sensation that can only accompany someone stranded in a country where the native tongue is anything but your own, and the reason for your visit has been rendered essentially unnecessary not long after your landing gear touches the ground. This is the basic setup to “The Black Sea,” an unusual film from co-directors Crystal Moselle (“The Wolfpack,” “Skate Kitchen”) and Derrick B. Harden, the latter of whom also stars.
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Khalid (Harden), a Brooklyn-based barista, has decided to somewhat spontaneously pursue the promise of financial gain by answering a message on Facebook from a mysterious Bulgarian-based woman, one who’s ready to foot the bill for his airline ticket and provide additional funds upon arrival. The catch? A vague mention of “adult time,” but when an eager Khalid turns up at the purported home of said woman, two men unexpectedly urge him to leave, and in something of a catfish-esque scenario, the woman never materializes. With nothing but the clothes on his back and a duffel bag, a confused Khalid now sets his sights on returning home, but the reality of exorbitant airfare prices and desperate calls back home to anyone who might be able to assist in this regard fails to produce the results Khalid needs; one family member even berates him for his chronic string of failures and leaves him with the ominous advice to “figure it out. “One stolen duffel later, and the situation has now become even worse, as his passport was within the bag; the next series of scenes see Khalid wandering the streets of Sozopol, trying his best to overcome the language barrier and eventually ending at the travel agency of Ina (Irmena Chichikova), who’s powerless to help without Khalid’s passport. Now focused on simply acquiring the money needed to both survive and eventually make his way back stateside, his adventures now take him to pursue under-the-table employment, first in a restaurant and eventually as a dockhand, neither of which pan out and eventually placing Khalid right back where he started.
However, a chance encounter with a group of locals soon sees Khalid in the presence of Ina once more, as one member coincidentally happens to be the travel agent’s sibling, and a request from Khalid for a decent cup of matcha from the bemused Ina has Khald laughing over the poor quality of said beverage; Khalid seemingly has no choice but to put his barista skills to work as he proceeds to show her what authentic matcha is all about. Could this be the beginning of something special between the two? A germ of an idea has taken hold, and Ina’s small business has now transformed seemingly overnight into a small café, one that quickly attracts a crowd and might be the monetary windfall Khalid needs.
All that’s been described could very well encompass the first act of any other film, but the truth is that, by this point, much of “The Black Sea” has already elapsed, though the free-flowing nature and improvised dialogue make for something oddly compelling, a film as close as it gets to following someone around with a camera as their life proceeds to unfold. This sort of filmmaking choice could easily be seen as meandering, and this does indeed occur in the film’s final fifteen minutes, leading to an abrupt ending with no apparent resolution. Periodic musings by Khalid on failed dreams lend some evidence to his motivation, possibly explaining more about his sudden departure from his life in Brooklyn. Still, these all-too-brief glimpses into what’s presumably a bit of backstory exist as mere detours on an all-too-windy road of plot. Is this café truly an extension of a dream unfulfilled, or nothing more than a way to pay his way back to the resumption of his old life?
As such questions arise, the connections Khalid makes with the residents of Sozopol similarly take shape, but even this comes into question every time he counts the till from the day’s sales; one can almost see the mental arithmetic as he seems to process how much more he needs for the next ticket home. Though his presence as a black man receives the spotlight more than once, lending weight to the poor treatment he endures from time to time, whether in the early days of his employment struggles or in the perplexing leadup to the film’s final scenes, there’s no denying the palpable frustration of the opening, as we first witness Khalid’s dilemma, and even through the various plotline pivots does the desire to see this through to the end become impossible to ignore. In what’s perhaps the film’s true highlight, the chemistry between Khalid and Ina propels the action, even strengthening its many weaker moments, and the choice to withhold any crescendo to romance remains the right one all the way to the very end.
This relationship, alongside Khalid’s semi-misguided personal journey, brings to mind “The Visitor,” another story about a lost soul finding something where it was least expected. Still, unlike the narrative home run of that underrated 2008 effort, it could be seen as inevitable that such a film as “The Black Sea” would eventually begin to crack at the seams, with a lapse in basic storytelling the chief culprit. Nevertheless, the all-in commitment from every cast member as they adapt to their loose surroundings keeps the pace high and never allows for a dull moment. Is it possible to forgive the experiment that is “The Black Sea”? Like Khalid’s goals, it might not matter. [B-]