Tyler Perry’s Beauty in Black is another instant hit for Netflix as part of the writer/director/actor’s collaboration with the streamer. However, the new series has also continued a trend of appalling critical reviews and love-it-or-hate-it audience reactions to Perry’s exclusive releases on the platform. Netflix has previously come under fire for their long-term deal with Perry from fans of the many positively received shows that have been canceled in favor of “trash” developed by the writer.
Tyler Perry has been on quite a rollercoaster ride with Netflix since signing an extensive deal back in 2023. That deal was for Perry to deliver eight movies over four years, and shortly after, he did confess in an interview that he had “no idea” what he was going to do. Now, alongside those movies, which include the panned 2024 movie Mea Culpa, Beauty in Black is proving that his TV series releases proving to be huge crowd-pullers, but not necessarily crowd-pleasers.
Beauty in Black comes with the synopsis of, “A stripper’s fate takes a turn when she crosses paths with the wealthy, dysfunctional family behind a cosmetics dynasty and a devious trafficking scheme.” Most critics don’t even bother reviewing Perry’s Netflix TV shows, and that is once again true of his new series. However, the two reviews that have been submitted on Rotten Tomatoes are not exactly a ringing endorsement.
Is Tyler Perry’s Beauty in Black Worth Watching on Netflix?
According to the show’s two critics’ reviews, the simple answer is no. One review from LeisureByte.com notes that Perry’s show is more bothered about delivering plenty of swearing and nudity than developing any kind of emotional story about its intertwined characters, while the other from Ready Steady Cut suggested that since achieving success with his Madea franchise, Perry has “deliberately isolated himself from anyone who’s willing to tell him that something like Beauty in Black is a terrible idea.”
Obviously, with the series topping the Netflix TV chart, Perry has once again met the brief and delivered another successful project for the streamer. In that respect, the thoughts and opinions of critics mean very little. However, it seems that audiences are also very split over whether Beauty in Black is the greatest TV show ever, or the worst trash ever put on screen.
One Rotten Tomatoes audience review from Sonia A says, “Someone needs to tell Tyler Perry to stop if he cannot come with better ideas. This was just utter trash. His movies tend to have women being degraded by men, but this was just way too much.” Another from Charlotte A echoes the sentiment, adding:
“It’s simply such a poor version of a series that it makes you cringe just watching it. Completely talentless, with truly amateurish acting and predictable plotlines. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a show this bad.”
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Although there are several positive reviews for the series, there are a few that are questionable in their praise – not least one that hails the show as another great sitcom from Perry! One of the more genuine sounding reviews from Jayan L proves that there is some love out there for Perry’s form of over-the-top drama. That review says:
“I actually enjoyed the show. Finished all 8 episodes in one day! It was entertaining, kept me on my toes and I live for the drama. Tyler did his big one with this! I Cant wait for part 2!”
Regardless of all this, the eight episodes released so far at just the first half of the series, with another eight still to air. For those who have found something to enjoy in Beauty in Black, this will be great news. For everyone else, well, there are other things to watch.