The Blackening
Synopsis: A group of Black friends have a reunion at a cabin in the woods. What could go wrong? (Streaming on Amazon as of December 2023)
Scary movies are too scary for me. Unless they are comedic scary movies. The Blackening fits the bill for me. Friends who met in college are having a reunion to celebrate Juneteenth. They’re meeting at a cabin in the woods- red flag! Well, it’s more like a vacation house, but it is in the woods. Cinema has taught us that when people have a getaway at a place in the woods, some killer will start picking them off one-by-one. I think that if you are a longtime inhabitant of a cabin in the woods, you are safe.
The Blackening takes on a number of horror movie tropes, starting with — trope alert — a Black character being the first to die in American cinema’s scary movies. But, in this movie, they’re all Black. And, as the movie’s tagline notes, they can’t all die first. Or can they? Gulp.
I hope that none of the characters (except the murderer/s) die in these movies, and I’m always disappointed. Why can’t all the people just get chased, scared and survive? Clearly, I’m not the genre’s target audience. Hence, my tiptoeing into the genre with the category of “horror-comedy.”
We ease into the movie with no scariness — friends are carpooling through California on their way to some wilderness area. Meanwhile, the first friends arrive; a couple, Morgan (Yvonne Orji) and Shawn (Jay Pharoah). They set to exploring the house and getting stuff set up. Trope alert– They decide to further investigate the room with the locked door… phew… once they get the door opened, they discover it’s a game room. Eww, they find a racist board game called the Blackening, which features a plastic “Sambo” figure that calls out instructions when pressed. Don’t play the game, you fools! They do. No spoilers…but there is some confusion over the fate of these two friends. The other friends arrive in short order…
Allison (Grace Byers), who is biracial and gets some teasing aka bullying, from one of the “friends” for her mixed heritage…Shanika (X Mayo), the funny, unfiltered friend…King (Melvin Gregg), a formerly reckless guy who says he’s left bad boy behavior behind him… Clifton (Jermaine Fowler), a nerd who grew up in a white neighborhood (Vermont)… Lisa (Antoinette Robinson), bubbly and looking to give romance another chance… Nnamdi (Sinqua Walls), Lisa’s ex, who claims he’s no longer a player and (my fave) DeWayne (DeWayne Perkins), Lisa’s sensitive, exuberant bestie. Yeah, so refer back to this paragraph when you need a reminder of someone’s personality. The characterizations aren’t too deep, but the film is relying on spoofing horror films, so we can let it go.
Once everyone gets to the place –after a white park ranger (Diedrich Bader) questions what they are doing at the rental–uh, renting it, the friends catch up. Where, they wonder, are Shawn and Morgan?
Figuring that the last two friends will arrive soon, they get down to having snacks and playing cards. The sun sets… The lights go out… yikes, and come back on. They explore the one place you really need to stay away from–trope alert— one after the other, the friends take the rickety stairs down to the basement. No killers there, just the laundry. I would still forego washing my clothes for the weekend and barricade the basement door from upstairs.
Well, they, like Shawn and Morgan before them, find the game room and the cursed board game. One friend dubs it “Jim Crow Monopoly.” Trope alert— they play the clearly cursed game. Don’t try to outsmart the cursed object, be it monkey paw or board game– you can’t win!
Well, the Blackening instructions claim you can win if you answer ten questions correctly. Questions concern Black History, including how many seasons the OG “dark-skinned” Aunt Viv was on Will Smith’s Fresh Prince…
The questions veer from information over to pushing the contestants to agree on uncomfortable questions like : Who is the Blackest among you? Biracial Allison says it can’t be her. Nmandi’s African name puts him in contention while another friend says that they are in therapy, so they’re out.
Once the group is done playing the game (or so they think), they return to the living area, frightened and ready to leave. Do you think their cars are operable? Jump scare! They spy a masked figure outside. Lights go out again and–trope alert— they decide to split up! They all gather kitchen utensils to use as weapons and one group goes outside, and the other stays in the house. The outsiders figure they can find help, while the insiders contemplate searching the house’s nooks and crannies and surprising the killer. But I don’t think spatulas and rolling pins will be much help against their opponent. Unless they are made of pancakes.
The Blackening takes on tropes and fear of white supremacy. At one point, with the characters gathered together, trying to figure out who the killer could be, one person says: Are there any white people who want to kill us? In response: Potentially all of them!
It’s hard to keep a clear head when a killer (or killers?), is after you and your friends, of course. And all they’ve been able to determine is that the hulking figure in the woods (or house) is white and carrying a crossbow. Petty grudges resurface; will friendship prevail? Can their wits and bravery save them?
There are tropes aplenty, but I was relieved that I didn’t have to be subjected to two scary tropes I abhor: a pet in danger or scary dolls. Just about any doll can be scary, don’t you think? And really, any responsible guardian of a dog or cat actor shouldn’t even bring their charge to an audition for a horror movie. Rom-com jobs are fine.
The Blackening leans into humor more than horror, so fear-phobes should be able to get through the movie without a racing pulse. Still, best to lock the doors and peek out the window to confirm there are no masked figures lurking around before lights out.
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