Ordinarily, curling up for a night of games, laughter, (optional stimulants) and fun with old friends is a perfect recipe for a catch-up. Real friends can always pick up where they left off – no matter how long they’ve been apart – and adding a pack of cards, a super sweet cocktail and some random board games into the mix should guarantee a good time.
Another good way to find out who your real friends are is for a crazed killer to force you to choose which one should die.
Morgan (Yvonne Orji) and Shawn (Jay Pharoah) are excited to set up for their annual Juneteenth celebration with college friends. The cabin in the woods they’ve rented for the occasion is super cute and Morgan’s trusty group bonding activity – her games night set-up – is good to go. Unfortunately so is The Blackening; the offensively ‘retro’ game the couple stumble upon in a previously locked room. And it really wants them to play!
From the outset, co-writers Tracy Oliver and Dewayne Perkins (who also stars in the film) have a ball exploiting our familiarity with horror film conventions and the tedium of tired horror tropes by bringing the audience in on the irreverent tone of The Blackening. An early wink to Scream sets the tone of what will prove to be a fast and funny ride through a typical scary movie scenario with some memorable characters who refuse to play by the rules.
Allison (Grace Byers), Lisa (Antoinette Robertson) and Dewayne (Perkins) share an easy, teasing excitement as they bicker their way to the cabin. Though Allison seems preoccupied by news that her ex Nnamdi (Sinqua Walls) will be joining the party and conscious that loyal Dewayne still hates him. Shanika (X Mayo) is equally unimpressed by another unexpected guest popping up at her creepy redneck convenience store pitstop; Clifton (Jermaine Fowler) was never one of their circle, she hopes his analogue loving-ass won’t cramp their style.
She needn’t worry. King (Melvin Gregg) is mixing up a jug of liquid sugar rush and the girls have found a way to calm Dewayne way down. If the gang could find their hosts, the weekend’s festivities could get started. Unless, of course, a mysterious masked man with a crossbow, a talking board game, a hostage and a potentially super racist agenda decides that this is the right time to make things interesting…
Dewayne Perkins and Tracy Oliver evolved The Blackening from a 2018 short film by comedy trio 3Peat. Perkins was a member and the feature has kept its observant roots, refusing to pull punches on generations of short-sighted caucasity in the horror genre. Director Tim Story is comfortably in on the joke, blending the expected aesthetics of a standard thriller with some far more pragmatic actions and reactions. The result is a setting we know all too well populated by people who know better than to lay down and die like they’re supposed to.
If it’s not too late, avoid the trailer before going to see The Blackening. It unforgivably shares way more than it should of this likable expectation-flip. Nevertheless, the dark twists are effective and early seeds of mild tensions between the friends are cleverly amped up to force divides. Our villain marks Juneteenth by quizzing his players on the extent of their cultural knowledge. Did they really stay true to Living Single? Can anyone remember one single word beyond the first verse of Lift Every Voice? Will King straighten his aim out in time?! X Mayo’s Shanika gets MVP for her entertaining approach to survival and for looking fabulous as she fights for it.
With wry hat tips to Get Out, Scream, Saw, Cabin in the Woods and many more and an overall madcap Scary Movie tone, The Blackening is a proper crowd pleaser. And it does not pander to the pale or easily offended, with humour centring the Black experience and a charismatic ensemble cast ensuring that the punchy script sings like Allison. That Scary Movie vibe means the runtime dances by but it also means the horror is never particularly horrifying and this is the sole *weak point of an otherwise enjoyable film.
(*That and the lack of anyone laying into the bad guys with a folding chair. The post-Montgomery Brawl Blackening would have been a magnificent thing indeed!)
Watch The Blackening in the busiest cinema you can find and enjoy being a part of the collective joy. The industry and our spirits could all do with the boost right now!
The Blackening opens across the UK on August 23rd 2023
