Film Review - The Blackening (2022)

While comedy is an integral part of his portfolio, it’s something Jordan Peele has kept almost completely under wraps as a director. Social horrors such as Get Out and Us have strong satirical leanings, but there’s little or nothing in the way of humour. So what if Peele decided to make a horror comedy? The answer comes courtesy of another director, Tim Story (Barbershop, Ride Along) in The Blackening, a horror where the laughs take priority over just about everything else.

Prepare yourself for tropes by the dozen, starting with the cottage in the woods where a group of black friends gather for a Juneteenth reunion. Two of them arrive early but, by the time the rest of them show up, they’ve strangely disappeared. Could it have something to do with the games room, with its self-locking door and The Blackening, a disturbingly racist board game seemingly controlled by a talking sambo black face? It asks questions Monopoly-style, demands answers on pain of death and the group soon find themselves on the run from something or someone hell bent on killing them.

Like we said about tropes ….. But here there’s an additional one, the stereotypical black characters and the convention of black people being the first to die in a slasher movie – which is exactly what this is, once the final third arrives. They’re all types in their own ways, from the conventional Lisa (Antoinette Robinson) to the womanizing Nnamdi (Sinqua Walls) and the socially awkward Clifton (Jermaine Fowler) whose ission of voting for Trump gets one of the film’s biggest laughs. And, just in case you were looking for some balance, Story builds in some of that as well, with hostile white locals and a park ranger called – yes, you’ve guessed it – Officer White!

But those conventions are just one of the reasons why we love horror movies: seeing them sent up with such energy and enthusiasm just makes them all the more enjoyable. The Blackening isn’t especially nerve-jangling, though. It prefers jump scares to creating a menacing atmosphere, but they won’t have you leaping out of your seat. That’s not what it wants to do. This is a satire which takes inspiration from Jordan Peele and more overtly comic horrors such as Scary Movie. With a style that comes close to slapstick and irresistible lines – “Name four black characters in Friends.” – it cries out to be seen with an audience so that everybody can get into the swing of things.

Story has chosen his cast with skill and they all deliver as an ensemble and individually, especially Fowler who plays Clifton as if looking over his shoulder at Eddie Murphy in Bowfinger. You might wish for more scares, more moments where your fingers are embedded in the armrest but if you do, you could be missing out on something of a rarity. A satire with a touch of affection.