This modern twist on the 1877 novel is an inspirational look at African American horse culture. Shame it’s also saccharine, shallow and full of flat dialogue
As the Paris Olympics drew to a close this year, thousands of plans formed on social media, with those who could barely run a mile wondering what would be their best shot at getting into the Olympic village in four years’ time. Breakdancing didn’t look too hard; perhaps air-rifle shooting? But the consensus seemed to be that the dream gig was equestrianism, where the fancy horses do most of the work and the medallists are all heiresses, aristocrats or children of rock legends. You would just have to win the lottery first.
Unfortunately for the budding Olympian Jolie Dumont (Kaya Coleman) in Prime Video’s drama Beyond Black Beauty, she is experiencing a reversal of fortune. Her opulent life in Belgium, complete with a gorgeous top-tier horse, comes to an abrupt end when her parents split and her mother (Sagine Sémajuste) sells her beloved steed and moves them back to her middle-class home in Baltimore. It’s down to Jolie to keep her dream alive and adjust to a new life in which she sticks out like a sore thumb at school, but is able to find purpose training the wild horse Black Beauty.
