The Blackening follows a group of Black friends reunited for a Juneteenth weekend getaway only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a masked killer who forces them to play a twisted board game by his rules, which they soon realize ain’t no motherf****** game. The Blackening skewers genre tropes and poses the sardonic question: If the entire cast of a horror movie is Black, who dies first?
What We Thought:
The Blackening is much more of a straight forward comedy than I expected. The trailers and tagline made it come across as more of a spoof film like Scary Movie or A Haunted House, but it’s a comedy that pokes fun at horror tropes and overall works because of it.
I thought the premise was a great idea. As a fan of horror movies I know there are a ton of tropes and stereotypes in the genre. One of those is of course the black character dying first. This film asks the question, if the entire cast is black, who dies first? That’s genius as far as I’m concerned. Horror has always been a genre that tackles issues and this one pokes fun at stereotypes and social awareness. I thought it might beat you over the head with a message or grow tiresome quickly, but it remembers to be entertaining throughout first and foremost.
Don’t get me wrong, the film has something to say, but it doesn’t go in the expected direction and takes a stab (pun intended) at everyone. I’m a white guy, I expected it to take shots at white people, but it also makes fun of black stereotypes and the idea of being black.
The cast is solid. There’s enough characters to represent different types of people. There’s the gay man, the on again/off again couple, the guy no one really remembers from school, the biracial woman, etc. Each one gets just enough that they never feel one dimensional. They all serve their purpose to the group. They happen to be black, but they are friends first and no matter what ethnicity you are, you can see similar types in your own circles of friends.
I had an opportunity to see The Blackening at the theater and I didn’t end up seeing it then. I wish I had because I think this movie would have worked even better with a crowd. I laughed watching it at home and it does have some laugh-out-loud situations, but I think with an audience it would have gone over bigger. Still, I liked it even watching it by myself at home. It probably could have had more jokes and it definitely is more a comedy than horror (it’s really not scary), but it’s definitely good for a watch if you didn’t catch it at the theater.
CAST
Grace Byers TV’s “Empire,” “Harlem”
Jermaine Fowler Coming 2 America, Judas and the Black Messiah
Melvin Gregg TV’s “Snowfall,” The United States vs. Billie Holiday
X Mayo TV’s “American Auto,” “Swarm”
Dewayne Perkins TV’s “The Upshaws,” “Saved by the Bell”
Antoinette Robertson TV’s “Dear White People,” Block Party
Sinqua Walls TV’s “White Men Can’t Jump,” Nanny
Jay Pharoah TV’s “Saturday Night Live,” Resort to Love, Spinning Gold
Yvonne Orji TV’s “Insecure,” Vacation Friends
Official Site: https://www.theblackening.movie/
Instagram: @blackening
Facebook: @blackening
Twitter: @blackening
Hashtag: #TheBlackening
The Nerds Templar 