Oh, by the way, which one’s Black? (CREDIT: Glen Wilson/Lionsgate)
Starring: Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg, X Mayo, Dewayne Perkins, Antoinette Robertson, Sinqua Walls, Jay Pharoah, Yvonne Orji, Diedrich Bader, James Preston Rogers
Director: Tim Story
Running Time: 97 Minutes
Rating: R for Language, Molly, and Bows and Arrows
Release Date: June 16, 2023 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: Based on a comedy sketch from 2018 of the same name, The Blackening follows a group of friends converging at a nice little cabin in the woods for a Juneteenth getaway. Alas, there are some bad vibes suggesting that not everybody is going to survive the vacation. At first, it’s just little things, like a creepy cashier staring one of them down in a convenience store, or a park ranger asking to see everyone’s IDs before they enter their rental. But then it quickly becomes a lot more explicitly brutal and racist, with blood on the floor and a creepy board game with a Black Sambo face right in the middle of the board. With a Ghostface-style voice, an unseen gamemaster subjects the friends to a series of ludicrous and sadistic challenges to prove their Blackness (or lack thereof). In these types of movies, it’s usually the Black character who dies first, but when they’ve all got plenty of melanin, it makes for a formula of reckless, satirical shenanigans amidst the mayhem.
What Made an Impression?: See It with a Dang Crowd: I caught The Blackening at its New York Premiere at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, which is pretty much the Platonic ideal for experiencing this type of movie. If it’s been forever since you’ve seen a comedy with a raucous, no-holds-barred crowd, then this is the perfect opportunity to reacquaint yourself with the magic of cinematic social bonding. Watching The Blackening is not the time to be self-conscious. So bring along your whole crew, and then laugh, hoot, and holler to your heart’s content! These characters were written knowing that they would be received that way, and they’re ready for it.
Black History on Juneteenth: The Blackening scene destined to become the most iconic puts everyone’s Blackness to the test with a series of questions about Black history and popular culture. The queries cover such important, wide-ranging topics as Sojourner Truth, the NAACP, and the two Aunt Vivs on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. But then the gauntlet is truly thrown when the players must identify some Black person – ANY Black person! – who ever appeared on Friends. Bona fides will be tested, so feel free to play along … if you dare.
Blunt AND Clever: Parodies and satire of horror are as old as the genre itself, ranging from the silliness of Abbott and Costello and Scary Movie, to the self-awareness of Scream and Cabin in the Woods. The Blackening manages to lie somewhere in the middle, while capturing the best of both approaches. This is the sort of movie where the most prominent white character is called none other than “Ranger White.” But it’s also the type of movie where the villain is genuinely terrifying, with grievances that are taken deeply and seriously. And it’s also also the type of movie featuring telepathic communication that makes you go, “Yeah, that’s pretty realistic.”
The Blackening is Recommended If You Like: Scream, Undercover Brother, Cabin in the Woods, A Black Lady Sketch Show, Black Jeopardy!
Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Rap Snacks
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