The Blackening takes a racist horror trope and turns it on his head by asking, if everyone’s Black (and fully aware of all the other tropes that are found in horror films), who dies first?
The trailer lays down the premise—a group of friends rent a cabin in the woods and find themselves in a game with a murderous psychopath who says he’ll save them all if they kill the person they deem “Blackest”. The group (unsurprisingly) takes umbrage with this, and things devolve in terrifyingly funny ways.
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Here’s the movie’s official synopsis:
The Blackening centers around a group of Black friends who reunite for a Juneteenth weekend getaway only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer. Forced to play by his rules, the friends soon realize this ain’t no motherf****** game. Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along, Think Like A Man, Barbershop) and screenplay and screen story by Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip, Harlem) & Dewayne Perkins (The Amber Ruffin Show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine), The Blackening skewers genre tropes and poses the sardonic question: if the entire cast of a horror movie is Black, who dies first?
The Blackening stars Melvin Gregg as King, Grace Byers as Allison, Antoinette Robertson as Lisa, Sinqua Walls as Nnamdi, Jermaine Fowler as Clifton, Dewayne Perkins as Dewayne, and Xochitl Mayo as Shanika. The movie hits theaters on June 16 to kickoff the long Juneteenth weekend.
While we wait for the premiere, we can rewatch the trailer above or gaze at the film’s poster:
