Black Nativity

Langston, a teenager from Baltimore raised by his single mother Naima, is sent to New York City for the Christmas holidays to stay with relatives he has never met: his grandfather, the Reverend Cornell Cobbs, and his wife Aretha. Life in their household comes with strict expectations, including attendance at the reverend's services and participation in family prayers, and Langston chafes against rules he did not agree to. Drawn into the church's Christmas worship, he wrestles with his feelings about his mother's absence and what his grandparents' faith might mean for him. The film is a musical drama drawing on Langston Hughes's verse play of the same name, and it takes its cues from that work's blend of gospel music and nativity storytelling.

Kasi Lemmons directed and wrote the screenplay, her fourth feature after Eve's Bayou, The Caveman's Valentine and Talk to Me. Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett play the grandparents, Jennifer Hudson plays Naima, and Jacob Latimore plays Langston; Tyrese Gibson and Mary J. Blige also appear. The budget was 18 million USD, and the worldwide box office came to about 7 million USD.

On IMDb the film holds 4.8/10 from around 2,500 votes, and on TMDB 5.2/10 from 66 votes, while a critics' rating stands at 5.7/10 from 87 reviews, slightly above the audience scores on both sites.