There’s little to no precedent for crime thrillers explicitly tying their plots to a specific saint’s story of repentance in the best way spiritual biographies do. It’s even stranger when the mixture is a 4th-century gangster-turned-saint that the movie is titled after, and a contemporary Chicago gangster scene.
Queens rapper and music producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and Serbian filmmaker Yelena Popovic have not too long ago modified that with their movie, Moses the Black. This isn’t a broad retelling of the saint’s story, however relatively of the prize and worth of redemption and non secular awakening. 50 Cent onboards a few black entertainers as stars, alongside seasoned actor Omar Epps, for an embracing however no much less darkish movie whose message gained’t go away too quickly.
Moses the Black Preaches that no One is Past Redemption
In Moses the Black, the lifetime of Malik (Omar Epps) in modern-day Chicago is the true battleground, not the 4th-century Egyptian saint’s. Contemporary out of jail, the scary gang boss is sizzling on the heels of rival gang led by Straw (Quavo) after the torture-murder of his closest buddy and fellow gangster, Sayeed Hodari. “Retribution is at hand,” Malik declares, and he means it. The bullets transfer sooner than the order, and Straw’s males start to fall.
Of the numerous issues a mobster ought to and shouldn’t be, stoic and comfortable sit on the head of each ends. Viewers meet him on the former with reassuring fatalistic mantras such because the traditional “If I die tomorrow, I ain’t bought no regrets… my destiny is my destiny.” That composure, nonetheless, begins to fracture when his grandmother, shortly earlier than her loss of life, holds up a metaphorical mirror: a prayer card of Saint Moses the Black. As soon as a feared robber who discovered redemption by repentance, she tells Malik the saint’s life bears an uncomfortable resemblance to his personal. Such a lecture ought to hardly sink in with against the law boss, but it surely does with Malik. He finds himself more and more conflicted about his line of enterprise and the physique rely it’s left behind — each of buddy and foe.
When not sketching Sayeed’s likeness, visiting his lover so as to add recent ink to the world-map tattoo stretched throughout his again — nothing telegraphs mobster bravado fairly prefer it — he spends his personal hours punctuated by visions of a teary-eyed Moses the Black striding deserts with lips stuffed with psalms, penances, and Lord’s Prayers. This quiet transformation doesn’t go unnoticed. The rank and file develop uneasy, whispering amongst themselves about their “Chief,” the person who as soon as moved with ruthless certainty, who now hesitates on the fringe of revenge.
Moses the Black Advertises Redemption however By no means Forgets the Wages
Moses the Black sells repercussions as loudly because it sells redemption. It reiterates the pithy saying that “He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword”; in different phrases, that is no clichéd morality story with a cheerful ending. The wages of sin — each bodily and non secular — loom over the characters, symbolized partially by their wardrobe: virtually fully black, as if the movie itself is a 100-minute funeral for his or her selections, for higher or worse. In fact, redemption itself doesn’t come low-cost. Simply as Moses the Black (performed by the ever-brilliant Chukwudi Iwuji) didn’t turn out to be holy in a single day (he struggled, failed, bought again up, and saved going), Malik undergoes his “valley of tears” in extended style until the very finish.
There isn’t any scarcity of images and symbolism woven all through Moses the Black. That ought to come as no shock: filmmaker Yelena Popovic is not any stranger to non secular storytelling, having beforehand directed Man of God. Right here, she strives to maintain the movie each spiritually reverent and brutally grounded. Cocaine is rarely proven outright, solely implied, whereas blood is spilt with out hesitation. Recurring photographs of trains transferring forwards and backwards underscore the stress between parallel journeys that run till one should lastly give manner.
Moses The Black’s Performances and Character Exchanges Are Worthwhile
Omar Epps’ stint as Malik is strong, as is Cliff Chamberlain’s portrayal of the corrupt police officer, Jerry, along with his unsettling tantrums. Nonetheless, it goes with out saying that with movies of this kind, the dialogue virtually at all times tilts towards the superstar faces. One other acquainted pitfall follows shut behind: the amateurism of this group bleeding by the body. However by no means in Moses the Black.
Rappers Wiz Khalifa, Quavo, and Skilla Child are indistinguishable from different acts and are pure inside the movie’s tonal register; Deontay Wilder, in the meantime, doesn’t get to be something greater than a bouncer. None of them ship performances match for awards season, however that’s irrelevant; the combination is seamless, and the movie is best for it.
Efficiency alone hardly ever sells the phantasm in cinema. Moses the Black understands the significance of structuring character trade by dialogue and ethical sparring. “He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword” are phrases that consult with “divine vengeance and don’t have anything to do with their type of revenge,” says one character. “Then divine vengeance should be in our favor,” replies Malik. Elsewhere, the movie distils its critique of worldly ambition and stark nihilism into blunt aphoric traces corresponding to: “Those that personal the world ain’t bought time for paradise” and “If that is all there’s, blessed be those who didn’t final in any respect.” These are traces Quentin Tarantino himself can be pleased with.
- Launch Date
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January 30, 2026
- Runtime
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110 Minutes
- Director
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Yelena Popovic
- Writers
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Yelena Popovic
- Producers
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Yelena Popovic, Alexandros Potter, Nick Mirkopoulos, Brett Hays