“The American Society of Magical Negroes” (2024) follows Aren Mdonbo (Justice Smith), an artist who gets recruited to join the titular group because of his innate ability to sense the discomfort of the majority and cater to them to feel safe. He must discern why his first assignment, Jason (Drew Tarver), is so glum and resolve it, but when Jason decides that he is interested in Lizzie (An-Li Bogan), whom Jason is attracted to, he considers disobeying a crucial rule: thinking of himself first, not his assignment.

For “The American Society of Magical Negroes” to be successful, it needed to use comedy to make the message palatable. Making a movie into a rom com does not automatically do that. Kobi Libii, in his feature writing and directing debut, is very ambitious. He wants to deliver the message that the majority’s negative emotions hold the potential to make life difficult to impossible for everyone else so instead of living their lives, they  become people pleasers, subordinate their own needs and cater to those with the most power. By the end, Aren must learn how to put himself first, but Libii must get his audience invested in Aren for us to like the movie. It never happens.

There is a difference between accurately portraying a milquetoast, pushover and making the film feel middling. Libii needed to show what made Aren special other than possessing emotions or the desire to live a life without fear. Aren’s humanity and vibrance should be bursting then suppressed, and it never happens. He makes yarn sculptures while somehow living in a huge loft with no day job and only $17.31 in his bank account. People need to watch “Problemista,” which nailed living in a big city while poor without becoming dour or losing vivacity. Aren lives in a vacuum until the movie starts then he begins to have a friend, recruiter Roger (David Alan Grier), and a potential love interest. A lot of reviewers complain about the lack of world building, but neglect to notice that Libii is guilty of starting with a two-dimensional magical negro, not a real person, then building upon that foundation. Libii fails to make three-dimensional characters, which was key to the success of films like “Sorry to Bother You” (2018) and “American Fiction” (2023). Even Libii does not default to showing his Black characters as more than their careers or achievements, which includes their educational pedigree.

Libii occasionally goes the spoof route and savages “The Legend of Bagger Vance” and “The Green Mile” during Aren’s orientation. Yes, just those two movies. No others although “Driving Miss Daisy” (1989) is referenced. Then he pulls the same stunt repeatedly. He is like a child at bedtime clapping his hands and saying, “I want to hear the story again!” It was not funny the first time because those movies were a joke when released. Libii is firmly in the final act of “Saturday Night Live” territory where humor is a distant memory.

Maybe “The American Society of Magical Negroes” should have been a drama or played it straight by taking the Adam MacKay route. The dynamism of the camera work and editing would have made it less noticeable that the characters were thin. Then the oceans of dialogue, which did not disguise its agenda and had no subtext, could have been overt and clunky. Smith is at his best when he is angry but is no romantic lead and is not a funny straight man. I’m not suggesting that he does not have the capacity to embody such roles, but he did not do it here.

Libii does a better job at writing women, and/or Bogan is one of those actors who takes the material and elevates it with her performance. Lizzie could have chemistry with a tree. She was doing all the heavy, emotional lifting in every scene and would have made a better protagonist. Lizzie felt like a real person, and her grievances were not as generalized, but particular for her situation while simultaneously being emblematic of the struggles that all women faced, which none of the Black characters except Roger ever did. There is a powerful scene where Lizzie is talking to her boss, Masterson (Michaela Watkins), who is an older, sexist woman. She takes Lizzie’s work and gives it to Jason so Masterson can get a promotion. It delivers nuance that systematic bias arises in unexpected ways, and systemic bias can make sure that feminism goes one way-to the top. If Aren had interacted with Black people who did not belong in the society and had normal interactions, the contrast would have been engrossing.

Alternatively, if Roger was the lead, it could have satisfied the complaints about not getting enough immersion into the magical aspects of this world. Grier is a talented actor, and it would be great to see him as a protagonist. The friendship/mentorship between Roger and Aren worked so if Roger had a more central role, Libii would have established how an ordinary day in the life of the best magical negro looks then show how Aren’s influence shook things up. The narrative trajectory does not work as well in the opposite direction. The audience knows what the real world is like, and the movie’s depiction suffers in comparison except when it comes to Libii’s reimagined corporate life.

MeetBox, the place where Jason, Lizzie, and Aren work, is similar enough to tech companies in terms of décor and corporate speak to seem accurate, but just ridiculous enough to feel like a cinematic, comedic convention. The satire is in the room with us, but it is just the backdrop so not in sufficient quantities to land any actual audible laughs. Masterson’s promotion is to rear admiral because instead of traditional titles, they use naval rankings. The CEO Mick (Rupert Friend, whom I often confuse with Orlando Bloom) uses the black background in his theatrical style presentations.

Costume Designer Derica Cole Washington nailed it. All the looks seemed attainable and regular. MeetBox’s unofficial employee dress code tracked with real life. Men are more casual whereas women wear clothes that are not tailored and polished but are more elevated and formal than casual with blazers and neutral to muted, calming colors. The outfits in scenes within the society felt as if they were classic to outdated as if they were theatrical costumes fitting a role, not ordinary clothes. Aren was the only one who looked contemporary within the society, which is why he is recruited because of his ability to work in this time. In the final scenes at Meetbox, when Aren decides what he wants, he looks like he is wearing one of his art installations that he decided to make into a red sweater. It is a deconstructed, unravelling look that stands out and is unique. I do not remember anyone else wearing red in the film.

The lighting within this universe also was amazing. A lot of the street lighting looked as if it was a spotlight showcasing the ordinary (too clean) objects like trash cans. When Aren was at the club and looking at everyone, the lighting casts a shadow on the people that Aren is trying to analyze, and they take on a sinister tone. There is a scene between Aren and Lizzie next to a Meetbox staircase which has blue neon accents, which add a dynamism to the scene and visually enhances their connection.

“The American Society of Magical Negroes” never lived up to its potential. It got bogged down with heavy-handed prose that did little to disguise its laudable agenda and committed the cardinal sin of forgetting to create three-dimensional characters.

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I thought Lizzie was a good character, but I am not asking for a sequel titled the Society of Supportive Wives & Girlfriends. I’m pretty sure that if Libii focused all his attention on that project, any accidental winning moments would evaporate. He needs to do something more intimate and less fantastical before he delves into world building again. He has lots of potential but needs to pass the gimmick stage.