Being Film #15 for Hooptober 2025
The Blackening has a lot to say about black identity, about the tropes and cliches of how black actors are handled not just in horror films, but throughout the visual medium. It also wants to be funny, and it wants to be scary. It also wants to be very much for black audiences, but because this is a studio film, it has to balance that with being universal enough to draw in a wide audience. Tim Story has a lot of experience with that kind of thing to varying degrees, and I’m happy that this one lands on the same side of the fence as Barbershop: genuinely smart, funny, scary, and can balance its message without sacrificing everything else The Blackening needs to be. Yup, I really enjoyed this one.
THE QUICK SUMMARY: A group of friends reunite 10 years after an all-timer of a college Juneteenth party, bringing not only 10 years of growth but also the baggage of 10 years of assumptions and judgements about their core friend group. The motley crew of characters arrive as an isolated cabin where they thought they would be meeting Shawn and uber-party planner Morgan. Instead, they arrive to an empty cabin and a creepy game room, where they find The Blackening, a board game that doesn’t just teeter on the offensive, but takes a flying off the ledge. When the doors lock and the television turns on to reveal a masked killer holding Morgan hostage, the group are forced to play not only for their lives, but for their their cultural identity as well. What does it mean to be Black? And what traditionally happens to the black character in a horror movie? Dewayne, Lisa, Allison, King, Nnamdi, Shanika, and Clifton are about to find out for real…
I’ve never been the biggest fan of Tim Story’s work, but The Blackening just might be my favorite of his films next to Barbershop (seriously, what a great movie that is). I wasn’t very aware of Dewayne Perkins before this film, but as the star and co-writer of the film he is exceptional: while his character (also named Dewayne) proves to be the highlight of the film from a comedic perspective, on a script level he ensures every single character gets moments to shine, moments to develop, and feel like they’ve been alive before the events of the film take place.
Also: the film is funny. A lot is made of the broader moments around black culture: the trailer sequence where they play the game and have to answer how many black actors appeared on Friends is fantastic, but it’s just one instance where the game allows for satiric commentary that is as comedic as it is pointed. Another segment has the group argue over who the “blackest” of them is, but from a surprising point of view: they’re arguing to NOT be the blackest, as that character will be killed. It’s equal parts disturbing and hilarious, and acts as a balance against the ending which puts the character in a similar situation, but having come through the other side of their invasion nightmare.
The Blackening is also the kind of movie I enjoy the further I get away from it. It’s been a day since watching it, and even though above I mentioned Perkins being the comedic highlight, I have to give props to X Mayo as Shanika. Mayo, a writer for The Daily Show, has some of the best moments in the film, from her joy over finding cheap moscato to her fake bag filled with every kind of drug to her episode fleeing from the killers in a lake, only to have to swim back to save her friends.
Everyone has their moments: I loved everything about King’s character, a former thug/gangster trying to find a higher path and Melvin Greg feels like he’s poised to be a presence like Michael B. Jordan given the right film. Overall a fantastic cast, a tight, funny script and some assured direction made this a complete winner for me.
Cinema Dual 
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