Black Box – Movie Review (3/5)

BLACK BOX is a supernatural sci-fi horror movie that takes place on a plane. It’s intense and should keep you guessing. Don’t worry, you will be getting a lot of answers before it’s all over. It does have a wild ending. For the record, you may want to skip it if you’re travelling by plane soon. Read our full Black Box movie review here!

BLACK BOX is a little genre treat that has a simple premise but is very well executed. I really enjoyed the way this storyline evolved and was surprised as the plot unfolded. The runtime is just 85 minutes, so you won’t be waiting too long before we get to the wild stuff.

In fact, much like Deep Water, some time is well spent introducing characters, which helps the rest of the movie. It results in us having characters we care about and a few (okay, maybe just one) that we hope will be one of the first to go.

However, other than doing a good job at introducing characters, the two movies are nothing alike.

Continue reading our Black Box movie review below. It’s in theaters now, but will be out on VOD on July 7, 2026.

Don’t watch this on a plane

I hope no one would be crazy enough to include Black Box as part of their in-flight entertainment. However, some genre fans traveling may be wild enough to watch this movie on a plane. You shouldn’t really. Not that anything in this movie should happen in real-life. Then again, who knows?!

Isn’t that what Disclosure Day just tried to tell us?!

In any case, Black Box plays out on your average domestic flight. The kind where the passengers are people going on vacation, those traveling to visit relatives, and the annoying businessman who thinks he’s more important than everyone else.

Yeah, he’s the really annoying character, and he only gets worse as the story evolves and escalates.

Avoid spoilers for Black Box

Anyway, on this flight, several strange and weird things will happen. Everything from a possible outbreak of some sort to an external threat. Oh yeah, these passengers are put through the wringer, and we are along for the ride.

At a very safe distance, fortunately.

For your own sake, you shouldn’t know too much more than this before watching the movie. It’s much more fun to see what happens than to anticipate the escalation because you’ve read spoilers for Black Box.

Instead, I can tell you that you have a lot of wonderful actors to look forward to, and most of the characters aren’t even that annoying. Even the tinfoil-hat-wearing character (yes, literally) isn’t one of the annoying ones.

Black Box stars Tom Brittney (Invasion, Fall 2: Deadpoint), Holly White (Home and Away), Betsy Blue English (Sky Monster), Dane Whyte O’Hara (Blue Lights), Kaja Chan (Cracow Monsters), and Asa Ali.

Watch Black Box on VOD

Black Box comes from director Steven Quale, who also gave us Final Destination 5, so he knows all about crafting those brutal death scenes. And yes, this supernatural horror thriller definitely delivers on those! He also directed the 2014 disaster movie Into the Storm, so he can handle those larger-than-life moments.

The screenplay comes from Stephen Susco, who you may know from the 2018 horror movies Hell Fest and Unfriended: Dark Web. He also wrote the screenplay for the 2004 US remake of The Grudge, which I preferred to the original.

Producers on this genre-hybrid include Jon Oakes (The Guilty), David Haring (Fall), Christian Mercuri (Obsession), screenwriter Stephen Susco, and Warren Zide (the Final Destination franchise).

Admittedly, I didn’t expect too much from this supernatural sci-fi horror fantasy hybrid, but it absolutely delivered more than I ever anticipated. I find myself wanting a sequel to dive deeper into the world-building presented, which is always a good thing.

Black Box was released in theaters on June 17 and is now coming to VOD on July 7, 2026.

Details

Director: Steven Quale
Writer: Stephen Susco
Cast: Tom Brittney, Holly Leena White, Betsy Blue English, Boadicea Ricketts, Molly Belle Wright, Dane Whyte O’Hara, Asa Ali, Kaja Chan, Ceallach Spellman, Georgina Leonidas, Danny Mac, Vaughn Johseph, Hanneke Talbot, Weronika Rosati