# Divorce in the Black

Divorce in the Black (marketed as Tyler Perry's Divorce in the Black), is a 2024 American drama-thriller film written, produced, and directed by Tyler Perry. The film stars Meagan Good (who also produced), Cory Hardrict, Joseph Lee Anderson, Taylor Polidore, Shannon Wallace, Richard Lawson, and Debbi Morgan.

## Plot

Ava is back in her home town with her husband Dallas at the funeral of his oldest brother. Dallas’s mother, Linda, becomes enraged by the words of Ava’s father Clarence, the town preacher. After a heated argument between Ava’s parents and Linda, she orders her remaining four Bertran boys to remove her dead son from his casket and take him back home. Ava stays behind and talks to her parents and her friend Rona and her husband Jim, about what to do about her and Dallas.
Ava shows up to the Bertran property to get Dallas and go back home to Atlanta. She sits with Dallas in his old truck and he tells Ava that she’s always trying to change him and his family. He tells her to leave. She falls asleep in her car waiting for Dallas, Linda wakes her up and tells her he left and to get off her property. She finds all the brothers at a bar getting drunk and begs Dallas to leave with her. The oldest brother, Morris, tells Ava to wait outside and he’ll send Dallas out. Ava runs into Benji, a man she almost hooked up with as a teenager, outside. All the brothers come outside and begin to instigate a fight with Benji. They remind Benji of the time they sent him to the hospital when Dallas caught him with Ava as teenagers. The bar owner tells the boys to leave, and after a scuffle, Ava gets the keys from Dallas and they head home. That night in a drunken state, Dallas admits to Ava that his mom had him kill his father because he was beating up his mom.
The next day on the way to work, Rona is asking Ava why she chooses to stay with Dallas when he treats her so horribly. Ava justifies staying with him because he had a hard life and doesn’t want to give up on him or their marriage. That night, Dallas leaves Ava at home for taking too long to get ready for dinner with their friends. At the restaurant, Dallas angrily and loudly says he’s done with Ava and wants a divorce. Rona takes a devastated Ava home and while comforting her, she gives her a list she made of every horrible thing Dallas has done to her over the course of their marriage. Ava is hesitant to read it. In the middle of the night Ava drives to her parents house.
The next morning, she tells her parents that her and Dallas are getting a divorce. Her parents tell her she can stay as long as she needs. Her mom finds the list Rona gave Ava and the two have a heart to heart conversation. Her mom tells her she doesn’t deserve any of the treatment she was given and that she’s sorry she wasn’t there for her more. They promise to not tell her father or he’ll kill Dallas. As the days pass, Ava starts to feel more like her old self again. On the last night, she and her parents go to a carnival in town, where Ava runs into Benji. They talk about what they think their lives would be like if they got together back when they were teenagers. Ava asks Benji to make love, even though he wants to, he tells her they should wait until she is no longer upset about Dallas.
Back at work, Ava and Rona talk about how better she feels and is thankful for her and her parents for helping her. Dallas shows up at her job, after his brothers convince him she’s been cheating with Benji their whole marriage, and tells Ava she better show up at the meeting with the lawyer to sign the divorce papers. While Rona thinks Ava should take everything Dallas has, Ava isn’t interested and tells her she wants to leave the marriage in the black. Ava shows up to the meeting and hastingly signs the papers. Rona throws a divorce party for Ava and she invited Benji. Later that night, Benji and Ava make love.
The next morning, as Ava is getting ready to leave for work, she finds Dallas in the kitchen. After she tells him to leave, he said it’s his house and that he’s willing to give Ava another chance. He proceeds to go upstairs to take a shower. He finds Benji in their bed, and the two of them fight. After Benji knocks out Dallas, Ava drags Dallas to his truck and tells him to never come back. When Benji goes back home, Clarence and the sheriff are at his house. Benji’s farm animals are dying and he suspects Dallas. Benji accidentally tells Clarence that Dallas was in Ava‘s house this morning and he leaves to drive to Atlanta. Benji calls Ava to see how she’s doing, asks to see her that night and gives her a heads up that her father is coming. Meanwhile, her mother Gene, has an altercation with Dallas at the grocery store and Dallas grabs her. Clarence replaced the locks and put up cameras at Ava’s house and gives her guns to protect herself.
Clarence comes home and tells Gene that he found out about what happened with Dallas. He grabs his guns and drives off the Bertrans house. Gene panics and calls Ava and tells her to hurry up and get down there because she’s terrified that the boys are gonna kill Clarence. Clarence gets to the house and demands to see Dallas. Dallas tricks him and his brothers shoot him in the leg and beat him up. Linda tells the boys to stop and they leave him in the yard. Ava and Benji show up and call 911. At the hospital, they say Clarence’s condition is bad. The sheriff says they can’t do anything without proof. Ava takes off in Benjis truck and calls Dallas to taunt him into coming back to the house.
Benji calls Ava and finds out she went back home. He tells her he’s coming. Ava is waiting in the kitchen when Dallas breaks into the house. She tells Dallas that she was always a good wife to him but he pushed her to her limit. She tells him that her and Benji are gonna be together and that’s he’s better than Dallas ever was. Dallas hits her repeatedly and Ava calls the cops. He threatens to kill her and she takes out a gun. She tells him to stop and when he doesn’t she shoots him. Rona, Jim and Benji all meet at the house to be with Ava.
Clarence is being taken out of the hospital by Ava, Benji and Gene. He tells Ava that nobody can break her and that she’s strong. Linda is there with two of her sons after one of them has been shot. Linda threatens Ava and Ava tells her that it’s over and to let it be over. Ava and her family walk out of the hospital finally feeling safe.

## Cast

* Meagan Good as Ava
* Cory Hardrict as Dallas
* Joseph Lee Anderson as Benji
* Taylor Polidore as Rona
* Shannon Wallace as Jim
* Richard Lawson as Clarence
* Debbi Morgan as Gene

## Production

In June 2023, it was announced that Good, Hardrict, and several other actors were cast in the film.

## Release

The film was released on Amazon Prime Video on July 11, 2024.

## Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 0% of 17 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.0/10.
Andrew Lawrence of The Guardian gave the film one star out of five. Mary Kassel of Screen Rant awarded the film two stars out of five. Barry Levitt of The Daily Beast gave the film a negative review and wrote, "Good has been great for a long time, and while she can't save Divorce, her performance is a reminder that she's more than worthy of leading roles."