A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Blackening” (2023).
I saw “The Blackening” at a Cineworld Unlimited preview. A comedy horror… yes, just like “Haunted Mansion”. But this time with (slightly) more scares and a lot more laughs. It opens in the UK next Friday (August 25th 2023).
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
A group of black friends meet up for an anniversary party at a remote house in the woods. But a board game – “The Blackening” – sits in the ‘Games Room’ and once started, the game insists that it must be finished.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC web site: “Strong language, bloody violence, threat, racism, drug misuse”.)
Talent:
Starring: Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg, X Mayo, Dewayne Perkins, Antoinette Roberts, Sinqua Walls, Jay Pharoah, Yvonne Orji.
Directed by: Tim Story.
Written by: Tracy Oliver & Dewayne Perkins.
Twitter Handle: #TheBlackening.
Ready for a scare? A reunion turns to terror at the house in the woods. (Source: Lionsgate).
“The Blackening” Review:
Positives:
- The whistling noise I continually heard during the film was a lot of black-specific and US-specific joked whizzing over my head. (I only copped the one about the film “Friday” because it appeared in the excellent Framed daily movie quiz the day I saw the film!) But, with that being said, a lot of the jokes did still land and the film far surpassed the six-laughs test for a movie. An argument between the friends to satisfy the game’s demand to select the “blackest” of them was comical: Allison (Grace Byers), whose mixed-heritage had crudely been compared to a picture of a zebra on the wall minutes before, became OUTRAGED that she was now suggested to be the “blackest”!
- The concept of the “Jumanji” style game is a good one for the basis of this type of horror film. Has this been done before? (Probably: I am not enough of a horror officianado to say).
- The film knowingly plays on all the standard horror tropes. In this respect, it is almost an all-black remake of the parody film “Scary Movie”. The ‘party-people trapped in a house’ concept reminded me of the recent (and I thought pretty entertaining) “Bodies, Bodies, Bodies” movie.
Negatives:
- It just all gets a bit too ridiculous and farcical. Clifton (Jermaine Fowler) comes up with some simply bizarre non-sequiturs. The reasons for the protagonist’s actions seem flimsy and contrived. The story seems to be thrown together without much care.
- Give the film is named after the board game called “The Blackening”, the board game itself has very little relevance to the plot. Unlike in the original “Jumanji”, it really doesn’t matter whether they move their pieces from space to space or not. It might just have well have been a pack of question cards on the table and a 2-minute timer. This feels like a wasted opportunity.
- I’ve commented on this numerous times before (a quick skim shows I raised it for at least “Creed III“, “The US vs Billie Holliday” (more allowable as it’s historical), “If Beale Street Could Talk” and “Moonlight“). But I do find it offensive in films for people (white, black or otherwise) to use the “N-word” repeatedly in dialogue. If a word is offensive, it should be offensive, in my view, across the board. The argument is probably that it is a black person’s right to ‘appropriate’ the word to use in speaking to other blacks. I personally think that argument is utterly bogus. But I’d be happy to hear views from anyone as to WHY this is deemed to be acceptable.
Summary Thoughts on ”The Blackening”
I’ve seen a trailer for this film that shows a black American audience in a screening having a whale of a time watching this film. And I’m sure if all of the jokes landed for you it was a fire-hosing of comedy. As a movie for me, it certainly wasn’t a bust, and I would watch it again, but it felt like a good opportunity missed.
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Trailer for “The Blackening”:
The trailer is here: https://youtu.be/moiRCJR4ToY . (Note: Red Band trailer).
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