# Black Cake (TV series)

Black Cake is an American drama television series. It is based on Charmaine Wilkerson's novel of the same name and premiered on Hulu. It stars Chipo Chung, Mia Isaac, Adrienne Warren, Ashley Thomas and Glynn Turman. It is produced by Harpo Productions and shows Oprah Winfrey as one of the main executive producers.
The show received generally positive reviews from critics, being nominated at the NAACP Image Awards and GLAAD Media Award.
The series was canceled after one season.

## Premise

Two siblings learn about their late mother's dark past after she leaves her recordings to them.

## Cast
### Main

* Chipo Chung as Eleanor Bennett
* Mia Isaac as Coventina "Covey" Lyncook
* Adrienne Warren as Benny Bennett
* Ashley Thomas as Byron Bennett
* Lashay Anderson as Bunny Pringle
* Faith Alabi as Pearl Thomas
* Glynn Turman as Charles Mitch
* Ahmed Elhaj as Gibbs Grant

### Recurring

* Jade Eshete as Mathilda
* Jeremiah Birkett as Bert Bennett
* Rupert Evans as Everett
* Samuel Lorenzo Bulgin as Percival Henry
* Anthony Mark Barrow as Clarence "Little Man" Henry
* Simon Wan as Lin
* Karise Yansen as Eleanor "Elly" Douglas
* Elliot Cowan as Steve
* Sonita Henry as Mabel Mathilda Martin

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Directed by | Teleplay by | Original release date |
| 1 | "Covey" | Natalia Leite | Marissa Jo Cerar | November 1, 2023 (2023-11-1) |
| 2 | "Coventina" | Natalia Leite | Teleplay by : Heather Jeng Bladt Story by : Marissa Jo Cerar & Heather Jeng Bladt | November 1, 2023 (2023-11-1) |
| 3 | "Eleanor" | Natalia Leite | Marissa Jo Cerar & Ihuoma Ofordire | November 1, 2023 (2023-11-1) |
| 4 | "Mrs. Bennett" | Tara Nicole Weyr | Kara Smith | November 8, 2023 (2023-11-8) |
| 5 | "Mother" | Tara Nicole Weyr | Hayley Tyler | November 15, 2023 (2023-11-15) |
| 6 | "Ma" | Mario Van Peebles | Yasmin Almanaseer | November 22, 2023 (2023-11-22) |
| 7 | "Birth Mother" | Zetna Fuentes | Marissa Jo Cerar & Hayley Tyler | November 29, 2023 (2023-11-29) |
| 8 | "Nine Night" | Zetna Fuentes | Marissa Jo Cerar | December 6, 2023 (2023-12-6) |

## Release

The trailer of Black Cake was released on October 2, 2023. The television series premiered on Hulu in the United States, Disney+ under the Star banner internationally and Star+ In Latin America. on November 1, 2023.

## Reception
### Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 15 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.80/10. The website's consensus reads: "Cleverly plotted and viscerally well-acted, Black Cake is an engrossing drama that can have its surprising twists and eat them, too." On Metacritic, the series has a score of 68 out of 100, based on 9 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Ronda Racha Penrice of TheWrap described Black Cake as groundbreaking and entertaining, praised the performances of the cast, and said, "It cracks open the door for never-ending narrative possibilities for truly diverse and dynamic stories." Judy Berman of Time stated Black Cake is one of the few examples of a show in which the "floridly emotional tone serves the story," praised the performances of the actors, and complimented how the television series approaches the concept of family secrets.

### Accolades

At the 55th NAACP Image Awards Black Cake was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series, while Marissa Jo Cerar was nominated for Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series. At the 35th GLAAD Media Awards Black Cake was nominated for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.