The Stream: It feels like a 4-minute sketch stretched to 90 minutes.

The Big Screen: Many laugh-out-loud moments and good cast

The Final Bill: A horror-comedy that’s heavy on the comedy but stretches the story to justify its length.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: Tim Story
Writers: Tracy Oliver and Dewayne Perkins
Stars: Dewayne Perkins, Antoinette Robertson, Sinqua Walls, Grace Byers, X Mayo, Melvin Gregg, Jermaine Fowler, Yvonne Orji, Jay Pharoah
Genre: Comedy, Horror, Thriller
Rating: R for pervasive language, violence and drug use
Runtime: 1 hour 32 minutes
Production Companies: Lionsgate, Catchlight Studios, MRC Films, Media Rights Capital, The Story Company
Platform: In theaters on June 16, 2023
Notable Trailers: Expend4bles, Joy Ride, The Meg 2: The Trench

What’s good, my Streamers! It’s Juneteenth weekend, so let’s do one for the culture. Have you ever wondered who would die first in a horror movie if everyone in the cast was Black? Well, The Blackening interrogates that pervasive horror movie trope. This feature film is based on a short film of the same name by a comedy troupe, 3Peat, which was 4 minutes. Let’s see if 86 more minutes does this idea justice.

The Blackening takes place during Juneteenth weekend when an all-Black group of college friends gets together after ten years in a secluded cabin in the woods. When a masked killer demands that the group play a game or they all die, one of the questions leads them to determine who is the “Blackest”. The group has to use their savvy and knowledge of horror movie tropes to outsmart the killer and live to see another day. Emancipation, Kool-Aid drankin’ hijinks ensue.

The Blackening is an entertaining movie, no doubt. The cast that has been assembled is a group of comedy all stars. They are believably a group of old friends, and they bring that hang-out energy that you’d want in a reunion weekend. They each have some very funny lines and play off each other well. X May and Dewayne Perkins are particular highlights. They have great punchlines, and the delivery is on point. Also, there some good commentary Blackness and Black people in movies and society throughout.

My main gripe with The Blackening is that it is a germ of an idea that was hilarious for 4 minutes, but it really cannot sustain a 90-minute movie. Yes, it is funny pretty consistently; but there are definite lulls as well. After 30 minutes, I was wondering what was going to fill up the next hour of this movie. Unfortunately, the horror movie elements have to take over and that’s really nothing special. It gets really silly at times, which was probably on purpose, but still not funny enough for me. The outcome is fairly obvious from the beginning, which I don’t think is necessarily a problem. The issue is that the comedy really has to make up for the relatively weak horror movie cliches. I’m not sure that the balance is right.

Ultimately, The Blackening is an entertaining movie. Even though 90 minutes isn’t a long movie, the idea here feels stretched to its limit at that length. It is very funny for the most part and is supported by a good cast. The horror elements is where the movie struggles as it is not very scary and the ending is predictable. Support The Blackening by getting to the theater and grabbing a bowl of popcorn.

Happy Juneteenth!