Image source: YouTube user IGN
It’s a familiar scenario: a group of friends head up to a cabin in the woods for a relaxing weekend, only to find themselves picked up by a murderous assailant. In “The Blackening,” however, the main characters are acutely aware of horror movie tropes—and determined not to fall for them.
“The Blackening” follows a group of Black friends on a road trip to celebrate Juneteenth. But when they find themselves trapped by a killer, a lot of comedy and gore ensues. Based on a 2018 short film of the same name by sketch comedy group 3Peat, the film seems to be heavily bent on killing off the most tired horror movie clichés.
In 2022, Dewayne Perkins – who wrote and starred in the short film on which the film is based and also wrote and starred in the full-length film – analyzed the premise in interview with Collider. “The intention was to take ropes and then expand them to make the audience understand that ropes are also human beings. My character is a ‘gay best friend’, which is a trope in movies,” he said. “Usually, [gay best friends are] regulated to their side to be a person who brings humor, or they are part of a joke. So being able to take those tropes and figure out exactly what makes them complex, what gives them depth, and then forcing that into the film so you can see when you start it to see, that you see what has been in horror films before and then the goal of the film is to always break down your assumptions about these characters by always forcing depth.”
Here’s everything we know about “The Blackening.”
“The Blackening” cast.
“The Blackening” stars Perkins, Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg, X Mayo, Antoinette Robertson, and Sinqua Walls, along with Jay Pharoah and Yvonne Orji.
Plot of “The Blackening”.
“The Blackening” follows a group of seven friends who celebrate Juneteenth with a trip to a remote cabin. Soon, however, one of their friends is kidnapped by an assassin. In a terrifying video, the killer demands – according to the offensive and cliché horror film that often sees the Black character die first – that the group sacrifices the Blackest among them to save the rest.
“The Blackening” release date.
“The Blackening” hits theaters on June 16.
