Black Box 4K 2021 Ultra HD 2160p

A young and promising black box expert must decipher a mysterious message left behind after an equally mysterious plane crash.

User Review

An interesting “Easter egg”: the main character in this film, starring Yann Gozlan and Pierre Niné, shares the same name as the character in the 2015 film *The Perfect Man*—which was directed by and starred the same two men. I noticed this small detail right away, as the excellent collaboration between these two French filmmakers had already made a deep impression on me in that film from six years ago. Here, the result is somewhat simpler, although, judging by the ratings, audiences largely enjoyed the new film.

“Black Box” begins as a genuine behind-the-scenes film about the demanding work of aviation experts. Very quickly, this story turns into a solid detective thriller—after all, with yet another major plane crash, “something is definitely wrong.” And the same goes for the main character. Either he’s the madman, or everyone around him is mad and villainous, or this is either his professional triumph or a spectacular failure. And another thing: don’t marry your coworkers… or you’ll end up losing your family because of your job. As it is, marriage is already on its last legs these days.

I actually quite liked the atmosphere, the dramatic structure, and the suspense. I enjoyed Pierre Niney’s performance. After all, as I’ve written before, I’ve long been impressed by his talents. The rest of the cast, it seems, falls short. The performance of the main character’s wife, played by Lou de Laage, is particularly lackluster. She didn’t quite come across as either a driven, cold careerist or a sensual young wife. Not even her “unflattering” haircut and deliberately sloppy makeup save the day. In short, the young lady didn’t really come into her own.

I also wasn’t particularly impressed by the thoughtfulness and logic of the story itself, nor by the motivations and actions of the main “villains.” I was left with the impression that the detective plot was rather formulaic. Perhaps it lacked a real plot “twist”—a “game-changer”—that would divide the entire story into “before” and “after,” between following a “false lead” and the “epiphany” of a seasoned detective. There is an attempt to sketch out something like that, but I didn’t see such a plot twist fully realized. It’s a shame—I missed that “edge” in this film. That said, I don’t regret a single moment of the time I spent watching it. All in all, “Black Box” is a solid French detective film that I’d be happy to recommend to friends and family.

Info Video

Codec: HEVC / H.265 (55.0 Mb/s)
Resolution: 4K (2160p)
HDR: HDR10
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1

Info Audio

#French: Dolby TrueHD with Dolby Atmos 7.1
#French: Dolby Digital 5.1

Info Subtitles