The Blackening: Film Review
If you like your comedies with a dark horror edge, then look no further than Tim Story‘s The Blackening.
A group of friends reunite for the first time in 10 years at a remote Airbnb they’ve rented for the weekend. There’s Allison (Grace Byers), Lisa (Antoinette Robinson), her gay best friend Dewayne (Dewayne Perkins), her love interest Nnamdi (Sinqua Walls) and his reformed gangster buddy King (Melvin Gregg). Then there are the latecomers Shanika (X Mayo) and Clifton (Jermaine Fowler). The group are locked into a room and forced to play The Blackening, a board game that forces them to prove their Blackness. If they lose, one of them dies.
The Blackening cleverly pokes fun at classic horror tropes, particularly the one where the Black character dies first, as well as racial stereotypes and cultural prejudices within the group. The script is witty, well-observed and hilarious, with plenty of laugh-inducing jokes, and the characters make for an entertaining friendship dynamic. Most of them aren’t fully fleshed out but there is an interesting friendship drama; Lisa is back with her cheating ex Nnamdi and Dewayne does not approve.
If you’re a horror fan, you might feel a little disappointed because The Blackening is far more effective on the comedy front. There are still a couple of good jump scares, a sense of tension when the killer comes near and the Blackface leather mask the villain wears is pretty creepy (if a little on the nose). But while the weapon of choice – a crossbow – is different and unusual, it doesn’t deliver the gruesome, inventive kills this could have done with.
The movie is an ensemble piece and everybody brings something unique to the table but my favourite was Perkins as Dewayne. His comedy improv group 3Peat originated the idea and he co-wrote the script with Tracy Oliver so it makes sense that he’s the star of the show. He drove the friendship drama, was easily the funniest of the bunch and was the only one I really wanted to survive.
The Blackening does lose energy and momentum here and there but overall, I enjoyed it a lot.
In cinemas from Friday 25th August