“The Blackening” (2023) is the name of a racist-looking game that a deep-voiced, Sambo masked figure forces an eight-person college friend group to play after they arrive at a cabin in the woods for a Juneteenth reunion at a cabin in the woods. The friends must band together to figure out how to survive, and they have one advantage: they’re black so they are already on high alert against danger. Co-writer Tracy Oliver is a master at making crowd-pleasing summer hits like “Girls Trip” (2017) and “Little” (2019) so it is no surprise that this comedy horror may have similar success.
Actors deserve special credit for writing movies and creating their own opportunities without sucking up all the oxygen in the room even though they could. Cowriter Dewayne Perkins, who wrote the “3Peat” sketch that this movie is based on, also plays a character with the same first name and is a scene stealer instead of a scene hogger by being part of an ensemble with everyone getting a fair share of the spotlight. There is prosperous couple Morgan (Yvonne Orji) and Shawn (Jay Pharoah) who organized the trip. There is the close knit three: lawyer sweetheart Lisa (Antoinette Robertson), black biracial Allison (Grace Byers) and Dewayne, who wears a robe with “That Bitch” emblazoned on the back and hates Lisa’s, ex Nnamdi (Sinqua Walls), and shows it at every possible moment. Former gangster, happily married King (Melvin Gregg) roasts Nnamdi for his womanizing and claims of being a better person. Shanika is the down to earth bougie princess who brings unexpected invitee, nerd Clifton (Jermaine Fowler). The characters make enough stupid choices for the movie to be the length of a feature film, but not so dumb that you start rooting for them to die. These are successful people who are out of practice when it comes to survival skills, but still carrying a heightened awareness of being vulnerable because *gestures wildly on an ordinary day*. The characters’ survival responses to danger elicited screams of laughter and clapping from the approving audience.
“The Blackening” is best viewed in a crowded theater with people who will react. It may not be as humorous watching it at home alone or with one other person. The point of the game alternates between proving how black they are then disavowing that blackness if it means surviving for a few more scenes. It is better to stay away from the previews if you do not want to get spoiled on some of the punchlines, but the pop culture references were mostly familiar—I did not get the O’Reilly Auto Parts jingle. The humor explores the fact that blackness is not a monolith, and each character may be an archetype, but it does not erase the images of blackness that usually get ignored such as gay black men.
Oliver and Perkins also make interesting choices on what they choose not to ridicule such as one character being an excellent swimmer. It is a subtle point in favor of body positivity without making the obvious comment that black people do swim. There is a love triangle, but it is competing types of love, romantic versus friendship, without one defeating the other. The central conflict in “The Blackening” is between DeWayne and Nnamdi, who is relatively passive, with DeWayne wanting Lisa to choose their friendship over her romantic relationship because DeWayne never betrayed her. Lisa is never depicted as dumb for falling for Nnamdi again, which I would not be as understanding, and Nnamdi is not framed as having permanent character flaws, though again I probably would have dismissed him as once a cheater always a cheater, and even King agrees. Normally I would deride this romantic relationship as reinforcing, not counteracting, harmful real-life pressure on black women to accept betrayal as an acceptable aspect of a relationship, but when the film depicts Nnamdi as willing to risk his life to protect Lisa, he leaves himbo status and becomes a credible love interest.
Most of the characters risk their lives and leave a safer space to protect each other. “The Blackening” is a testament to the power of black friendships: how two people exchanging a look can convey a multitude of messages, how even conflict will be set aside for the greater good and how large the transgression must be to get kicked out of the community. The Presidon’t joke is so FFR!
“The Blackening” has the meta-awareness of horror movie franchises like “Scream” without becoming pure horror. While the humor embraces that meta-awareness of the genre, it never veers in the direction of a spoof genre like “The Scary Movie” franchise. It has a “Saw” vibe with a voyeuristic, controlling, sadistic masked figure who forces people to play games without feeling like torture porn or gratuitous. The film strikes the balance between tropes and freshness. The freshness also walks the fine line between how an average person would react with the exaggerated, unrealistic physical prowess of a movie character. The fight scenes were equally gut busting and impressive.
If “The Blackening” has a flaw, it begins to lose momentum during the denouement when the game master’s motive is revealed. The identity seemed obvious and was not really the point, but another punch line in the blackness competition joke. It just sort of drags on a little longer than necessary. The film is a comedy first with horror elements, so I did not have high expectations about the resolution. There are a couple of hilarious post credit scenes so stick around after the credits roll.
Even if there was no screening, I would have paid to see “The Blackening.” I loved the preview, and the movie lived up to my expectations.
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If I had to choose my favorite character in “The Blackening,” it would be DeWayne: noticing Nnamdi’s body, being offended, pocketing money, puking on the killer. I related the most to Allison because she is biracial, has the best fight scene and jokes. The most horrifying moment was when the killer kicks Lisa in the stomach, but Lisa had the best kill and dropped that damsel in distress vibe. I did not relate to Lisa at all, and since the denouement revolved around the love triangle, I was not at maximum emotional investment. King had the best one liners (“Hell, you can’t fight”) and wins for bringing a gun to the cabin; however because he became a living pin cushion, he gets points deducted. The gun as the gag of a couple of jokes had the theater screaming, but when it fell, I groaned. Shanika slapping and reprimanding the killer was the second most relatable. “Well, he did vote for T**** twice.” I did not see the Adderall joke coming, which was one of the few drug use jokes that I enjoyed. The deep well and the first reveal of the vent did not do it for me. Nnamdi was the weakest character, which is a shame because Walls is a good actor.
