It seems like everyday when we turn on the news, there’s yet another trying, upsetting and arguably traumatizing thing going on. Whether it’s some absurd policy enacted by President Donald Trump that aims to erase the history and contributions of Black folks from or another senseless police brutality encounter—what’s beyond clear is that the news is no longer a safe space for us Black folks.
What’s also true is that in tough times like these, where the word “unprecedented” seems to be putting things lightly: it’s sometimes better and oddly comforting to deal with the trauma you’re familiar with than face the hardships of the trauma that you’re not familiar with. Whether that’s to gain some sort of semblance of escapism or to remind yourself that we as a people have overcome worse—watching certain projects that depict how we dealt with facing the worst fills some sort of hole in our psyche that helps us subconsciously deal with the current circumstances.
So it’s in that vein that we thought we’d take a look at a handful of Black trauma films in the hopes that it’ll either provide with either that sense of escapism or, in a weird way, a sense of hope that just like some our favorite characters in our favorite traumatic films—our story can end a bit differently.
Read on to get into the list!
“The Wiz”- 1978
Cast: Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Nipsey Russell
Why It’s Traumatic: Three words: the subway scene.
“Candyman”- 1992
Cast: Tony Todd, Vanessa Estelle Williams, Virgina Madsen
Why It’s Traumatic: Do we really have to spell this one out for you? We bet you still won’t say his name in the mirror.
“Boyz N tha Hood”-1991
Cast: Morris Chestnut, Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube
Why It’s Traumatic: Ricky’s death will go down in movie character death history because he truly didn’t deserve it. Those kinds of losses always hit hard.
“Set It Off”-1996
Cast: Queen Latifah, Kimberly Elise, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Vivica A. Fox
Why It’s Traumatic: They almost had it all. Almost! Cleo’s death, like Ricky’s just hits too hard.
“For Colored Girls”- 2010
Cast: Michael Ealy, Kimberly Elise, Janet Jackson
Why It’s Traumatic: There’s a reason why fans still give Michael Ealy a side-eye for this movie. Those kids never deserved what they got.
“Juice”- 1992
Cast: Tupac, Khalil Cain, Omar Epps
Why It’s Traumatic: Seeing Bishop turn on his friends over the course of this movie is truly a friend groups’ worse nightmare. We truly hated to see it.
“Beloved”- 1998
Cast: Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Thandiwe Newton
Why It’s Traumatic: This is one of those films that really brought the haunting elements from the book and upped the ante cinematically. We think Toni Morrison would be moved.
“Fruitvale Station”- 2013
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz
Why It’s Traumatic: This was one of those films that sit with you long after you’ve turned it off because of just how nonsensical Oscar Grant’s death truly was. God rest his soul.
“12 Years a Slave”- 2013
Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong’o, Brad Pitt
Why It’s Traumatic: There’s a reason why Nyong’o won an Oscar for her role in this. Her acting provoked a visceral response in audiences that won’t get out of their memories for a long time.
“Queen & Slim”- 2019
Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Jodie Turner-Smith, Bokeem Woodbine
Why It’s Traumatic: The ending. The ending. The ending. This was one of the most upsetting films we’ve seen in a long time. Full stop.
“Precious”- 2009
Cast: Mo’nique, Gabourey Sidibe, Mariah Carey
Why It’s Traumatic: The fact that this movie was loosely inspired by stories of real girls living in Harlem just makes this an extremely heartbreaking watch.
“Seven Pounds”- 2008
Cast: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Michael Ealy
Why It’s Traumatic: Listen, we get it—you want to right the wrong you created. But Will’s character in this film might have taken it too far and went a bit too deep.
“Amistad”- 1997
Cast: Djimon Hounsou, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Morgan Freeman
Why It’s Traumatic: Though the eventual mutiny of the Amistad ship turned out to be a triumph, seeing all that these enslaved men went through was still a lot.
“Antebellum”- 2020
Cast: Janelle Monae, Gabourey Sidibe, Kiersey Clemons
Why It’s Traumatic: Aside from the depictions of Civil War-era slavery, the absurd ending was arguably just as bad as certain scenes in the film.
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