Movies…with a little bit of obscure culture and sports mixed in
The perfect plane movie. Possibly the best plane movie experience I have ever had. The Blackening (2023) is a horror comedy (released in June for some reason) that takes every single horror movie trope about black culture and characters and skewers the expected with laugh-out-loud satirical and oh shit sass-oozing wit.
“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.”
Director: Tim Story
Writers: Tracy Oliver, Dewayne Perkins
Staring: Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg, X Mayo, Dewayne Perkins, Antoinette Robertson, Sinqua Walls, Jay Pharoah
Release Date: June 16, 2023
IMDB
The perfect plane movie. Possibly the best plane movie experience I have ever had. The Blackening (2023) is a horror comedy (released in June for some reason) that takes every single horror movie trope about black culture and characters and skewers the expected with laugh-out-loud satirical and oh shit sass-oozing wit.
The premise is remarkably simple. Friends from college are meeting up in an isolated house to celebrate Juneteenth. Dynamics among the group have changed and friendships are ripe with loose threads that are begging to be pulled. The Blackening is a melting pot for chaos before you throw in some random masked killers and a booby trapped house.
What makes The Blackening work is the cast and the script that links them all together. Writer Tracy Oliver penned the movie with one of its stars, Dewayne Perkins. While Oliver deserves lots of praise, I am going to be heaping my affection on Perkins.
The Emmy nominated (for the Amber Ruffin Show) actor was part of the Chicago based improv group 3Peat, which is where the kernel for this story was created.
This skit is acted out in the movie and hell if it isn’t just as funny in the movie. Perhaps it is because I saw the film before the skit, but I think The Blackening expands on its original premise and stretches its prongs of comedy into additional cultural footstones. The base for this movie is black culture, yet when the characters begin attacking white culture it is fucking hysterical. You have to be able to laugh at yourself, and the way this movie takes its vengeance out on everyone is great.
Back to Perkins. He takes on the part of the gay friend Dewayne, and hell if it isn’t the funniest performance I have seen this year. Watching the movie there is a sense that Dewayne is the pulley that raises or lowers everyone’s vibe, and that makes even more sense when you look at the history of this skit and how it originated with him.
The rest of the friends group fills in all the necessary holes to make the chemistry seamless. Allison (Grace Byers) is a leader type but is compromised among the group when she begins dating her ex Nnamdi (Sinqua Walls) and inviting him on the trip. King (Melvin Gregg) doesn’t talk much, but when he does, it’s worth listening to. X Mayo (Shanika) is the opposite because you always know where she is in the room. Lisa (Antoinette Robertson) has a bit of a mystery around her and is very much a fend-for-myself type of lady. When she gets hopped up on drugs, you will not want to mess with her.
The Blackening can be knit-picked in terms of its visual aspects, but if you read anything on that, I beg you to ignore it. No one was turning on The Blackening for its visual storytelling. People will press play on The Blackening to listen to a great ensemble weave in-and-out of jokes. If you have an appreciation for self-aware comedy and horror movies, then it will be very hard for you not to enjoy this four-minute skit brought to feature length.
Also a great bit of trivia that is spoiler filled. If you plan on watching The Blackening, this is the end of your review. Apologies.
When Clifton first meets Shanika in the gas station it is revealed that Clifton has an Android. This is a dead giveaway that Clifton is the eventual bad guy. Apple doesn’t allow their products to be used by villains. Also Clifton notes how Androids have better operating systems, which speaks to his mindset as the puppeteer controlling all of his “so-called” friends in his deadly game.
Just good stuff. Flew right over my head, but that is what makes it so good.
As of now The Blackening is not streaming anywhere, but I would spend the few dollars it would cost to rent the film. It is a short breeze of a movie that will be at minimal chuckle inducing and at max a great surprise.
STANKO RATING: A-
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