The Blackening (2022)
By Abdi Omar
 

Seven friends go away for the weekend and end up trapped in a cabin with a killer who has a vendetta. Will their street smarts and knowledge of horror movies help them stay alive? Probably not.

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• Running Time: 1 hour and 36 minutes
  Director

  • Tim Story

• Writers

  • Tracy Oliver

  • Dewayne Perkins

• Stars

  • Grace Byers

  • Jermaine Fowler

  • Melvin Gregg

Did you ever want a horror movie where the black person doesn't die first? Well, now you get a whole bunch of black characters. In this movie, we are shown a reunion of a group of friends on Juneteenth. They have all come together to play spades, take drugs, and survive a racist game board that wants to kill them. We are taken along on this comedy horror movie where the characters involved must ensure they all survive and not accidentally get framed by the police. Some friends have a reunion in a house in the woods on Juneteenth. Everything starts somewhat well, playing games, taking drugs, and reminiscing about the old times. But once things start going weird, such as when the reunion hosts are missing, they eventually have to deal with a racist game board and must survive. They must work together and put their pasts aside to go home safely. I liked how funny it was. I generally hate watching horror movies because they are scary, but this was hilarious and made all the scary parts easier to manage. My favorite character was Clifton, who Jermaine Fowler played. He acted like a nerdy and needy kind of character. I also really enjoyed how his mouth was at an angle, making it seem like nerve damage. It just made his character a funny addition to an already hilarious movie. I enjoyed how they touched on many different topics surrounding blackness. Whether it was making fun of Grace Beyers's character, Allison, about her being mixed and how black she really was, or when Clifton later talked about how he grew up in Vermont and was told he had his blackness revoked by Lisa, Antoinette Robinson, and how isolated he felt.

 Overall, it was an excellent movie for laughs and perhaps a perfect starter for horror movies, as well as some of the deeper discussions that need to be had in the black community on what it means to be black. I can't say how much I like Clifton's character; I enjoyed everything he said. I also felt connected to him when they made fun of him for having an Android phone; the struggle was real. Even though the voting for Trump scene is controversial, I enjoyed it and laughed so hard when I saw it. The All Lives Matter comment was funny because it seemed directed at them to make them angry. What I hated the most about the movie was the Nnamdi (Sinqua Walls), Lisa, and Dewayne (Dewayne Perkins) triangle. I hated how Nnamdi was a cheater and how Lisa returned with him. It was weird how they tried to move on from such a big thing and acted like it was okay; Lisa mistreated Dewayne's friendship. Also, I wouldn't say I liked how Dewayne was too invested; he should have left them alone and moved on for himself. I learned from this movie that the definition of being black is not monolithic. So many black people have different lives, from being poor to being rich, but at the end of the day, they are still black. Those who are mixed are still black and will still be treated like black people by society. Those like Clifton, born in Vermont and not exposed to "black culture," are also black. That was an important topic discussed in this movie: what is blackness, and how can we describe it so that it isn't skewed to define a specific black person and leave the others out? People who might watch The Blackening film could be those who like horror movies. It has elements of a killer and people who want to survive. It could also be great for those starting to watch horror movies and don't want something too scary, like me. It could also be for those who want to see a film that is about black people and has a lot of black people. So if you fit any of these descriptions, I recommend you see it. If I had to rate this movie out of 10, I would give it an 8/10. It was enjoyable to watch, and I would recommend it if somebody asked.