Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
A God-fearing bluesman takes to a wild young woman who, as a victim of childhood sexual abuse, is looking everywhere for love, but never quite finding it.
Black Snake Moan is a genuinely singular film — its premise of a devout bluesman chaining a troubled young woman to his radiator to 'cure' her promiscuity is unlike almost anything else in American cinema. Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci both deliver powerful, committed performances that anchor an otherwise lurid concept with real emotional weight. The blues music and Southern Gothic atmosphere are authentically rendered, giving the film a distinct regional texture. The cinematography is serviceable but not particularly distinguished. The ending, while emotionally satisfying in a conventional redemptive arc sense, feels somewhat too neat given the raw, transgressive energy of the first two acts.