Steeped in culture, and rich with detail, much like the traditional Caribbean black cake where it draws its title, it follows two estranged siblings who learn about their late mother’s explosive and secret past.
Littered with scenes that begin at a fever pitch before descending into a becalmed, meditative state, Hulu’s “Black Cake” is a beautifully constructed sentimental series. Simmering with strong relatable characters, steeped in culture, and rich with detail, much like the traditional Caribbean black cake from where it draws its title, it follows two estranged siblings who learn about their late mother’s explosive and secret past.
Based on The New York Times-bestselling novel by Charmaine Wilkerson, it’s an 8-episode series that opens with a frantic runaway bride racing to the ocean amidst the backdrop of a dynamic, sweeping score. It quickly switches to the present day and we are introduced to Dr. Byron Bennett (Ashley Thomas), an ocean scientist sharing his nuance on the lack of diversity in his chosen profession during a career day event. He soon learns his mother, Eleanor Bennett (Chipo Chung), has cancer. After her death, Byron summons his estranged sister Benny (Adrienne Warren), and they discover several voice recordings Eleanor has left detailing confessions of her true identity and sharing devastating details of a childhood she had never spoken of. Charting her journey from the Caribbean to America, it’s a childhood that takes audiences back to Jamaica’s Portland Parish in the late ‘60s. As she narrates her life in a series of beautifully shaped flashback scenes, we meet the young Eleanor, then known as Covey (brilliantly played by Mia Isaac), who had a passion for competitive swimming and surfing.
We are introduced to her best friend Bunny (Lashay Anderson), her first love Gibbs (Ahmed Elhaj) and Pearl (Faith Alabi), who raised her after her mother abandoned her when she was eleven years old. We learn of her own father’s trials and tribulations as a Chinese Immigrant disowned by his parents for marrying a Jamaican woman. Scene after scene, Eleanor’s past unfolds fervently through these seven taped confessions.
The story develops slowly, introducing us to each character through actions and dialogue, allowing us to learn about their lives mostly in flashbacks. As Eleanor recounts her story, the narrative thrust keeps you engaged as the series drifts back and forth between past and present charting the consequence of hers, her mothers, and her father’s choices.
The score deftly drives the story along with vibrant images of Jamaica, where the scenes are lush with warm and sensuous colors.
From beginning to end, “Black Cake” is exceptionally well thought-out and unfolds with the fascination of eavesdropping as Byron and Benny unpack and disseminate the bombshells their mother drops with each recording.
Benny and Byron are forced to hold a mirror to their own imperfections and experience a rollercoaster of emotions while listening to the tapes. Estranged for eight years since a volatile Thanksgiving dinner when Benny was shunned by her father for her sexual preference, she still bears the mental scars of physical abuse by her former lover Steve. Byron, an instilled expert at bottling his emotions, is battling discrimination issues at work which have been festering for years. These are characters on divergent paths who finally settle down into deeper levels of interaction.
It would be easy, but wrong, to describe the plot of “Black Cake” as mere familial friction. A relatable reflection of life with issues being raised like rape, racism, sexism, sexual orientation, suicide, adoption, colonization, discrimination, diversity and identity, the series will resonate with anyone who has ever hidden a secret or told a lie. Tender and devastating, this is a film about a family who have all been affected by a wrong choice and of a woman who wrestles with childhood trauma and sexual abuse.
It’s somber, it’s sweet, it’s dramatic as it delicately weaves a tale of deceit tainted with decades of repressed resentments raising questions about the daily choices we make and the art and skill each actor brings to their respective role is almost flawless. From Wang’s energetic portrayal of Lin, the quiet and intense power Thomas displays as Byron, to young Covey who is played with fierce truthfulness by Isaac, there is quality in the performances. The series depends on Isaac, and she deserves its trust. Glynn Turman as Charles Mitch, a successful lawyer in Newport Beach, Calif. rounds off the main cast. His priority is to honor the final wishes of his client by ensuring the siblings listen to the tapes together.
Well documented and chronicled, it’s also a love story and a stirring memoir with difficult themes and examines how a secret rippled through the years. Like the black cake with its sweet and tart ingredients which are left to saturate and simmer for months, Eleanor’s secret life has been kept hidden for years.
The staple black cake is a thread that runs through the series and it is baked for both of her weddings, a birthday celebration, her roommate’s graduation and every Thanksgiving. There is even a debate on which culture can claim ownership of cake’s origin since the recipe was modified in the Caribbean. But despite the tweaks of this rich recipe, the soul of black cake and what it embodies still remains. In Eleanor’s final tape, she informs them of a black cake that she has left in the freezer. In it she has placed another recording. “Sit down and share it when the time is right,” she instructs. Even in death she wanted her children united and black cake serves as that unifier.
Featuring guest directors that include Mario Van Peebles and Oprah Winfrey as a co-executive, “Black Cake” takes place in Jamaica, Italy, Scotland, England and Southern California and shines a light on black achievement. The characters are accomplished professionals. Byron has always wanted to be an ocean scientist since he was six years old and has achieved that dream and Benny is an accomplished artist. Despite its difficult themes, it doesn’t dwell on negative stereotypes, nor focus on the political conflict that plagued Jamaica during that era. Enriched with music which helps the story, Ska and Rocksteady somehow seems passionate, lilting and comforting, all at once.
This selection of memories, filtered through the eyes of a young woman is a series about love, tradition, sacrifice, unification and hope. There are lessons and takeaways – one being that we do have the power to change our own lives and fate doesn’t deal all of the cards and that sometimes some things are best left unsaid. Inspirational and educational it is also entertaining, as shows must be before they can be anything else.
The series, which premiered on November 1 will air new episodes launching weekly, only on Hulu.
(Images courtesy of James Van Evers/Hulu)
