Film

The Blackening

Name: The Blackening
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Released: 2023
Cast: Grace Byers, Antoinette Robertson, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg, Dewayne Perkins

A horror-comedy about seven Black friends trapped in a cabin with a killer, where survival depends on their knowledge of horror tropes and each other. It's genuinely funny, genuinely tense, and unafraid to interrogate the genre's weird racial logic. For anyone tired of horror that either ignores Black characters or punishes them for existing.

TMDb rating

2.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love horror that is also a sharp, funny comment on how these movies treat their Black characters, and you enjoy the game of spotting the rules as they get broken.

Skip it if you want slow dread or gore-heavy scares, since this leans on quick jokes and banter, and its pace is brisk enough that the kills may feel more like punchlines than frights.

What it asks of you: Ninety-seven minutes, moving quickly, with laughs that keep arriving alongside the tension, so you need to be ready to switch between wisecracks and suspense without much warning.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Get Out2017

A brilliant, furious deconstruction of horror and race that takes its premise seriously while staying darkly funny. Peak Jordan Peele: social commentary that never feels like a lecture.

But If you've already seen it (which you probably have), the surprise is gone. Second viewings hit differently but not necessarily better.

Candyman2021

Nia DaCosta's film is genuinely unsettling while being unflinching about gentrification, art, and urban legend. Visual storytelling that trusts you to keep up. Haunting.

But It's serious and sometimes slow-burn. There's less laugh-out-loud comedy here than you might want, and the ending divides people sharply.

Master2021

Mariama Diallo's debut is a taut psychological thriller about power, race, and gaslighting at a prestigious college. Wickedly smart dialogue and a final act that doesn't pull punches.

But It's deliberately claustrophobic and the pacing is patient. Some viewers find it frustratingly slow; others find that the point.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Blackening

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Ma2019

Both films use horror's supernatural threat as a vehicle for examining social dynamics within their ensemble. The monster is almost secondary to watching people navigate fear together.

Octavia Spencer plays against type as a terrifying, funny, and pitiable antagonist. It's a slasher film told from the perspective of the killer, and it works as both horror and social commentary about exclusion.

But The tonal shifts between horror and camp can feel uneven. Some scenes lean hard into exploitation logic that might make you uncomfortable.

Scream1996

The movie that understood horror fandom and meta-commentary before it became shorthand. Witty, scary, and genuinely knows what it's doing. A masterclass in structure.

But The kills are brutal and some of the 90s attitudes haven't aged gracefully. Also, if you know the twists, there's less shock.

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil2010

A subversive slasher that flips the script on genre expectations with genuine warmth underneath. Funny without winking, scary without being mean-spirited.

But It's a one-joke premise that lasts 89 minutes. If the central reversal doesn't click for you in the first five minutes, you're in for a long watch.

Evil Dead II1987

Sam Raimi's genre-bending classic treats horror and slapstick as the same language. Bruce Campbell at his most committed to looking ridiculous. Pure fun.

But It's deliberately silly and deliberately gory. If you want horror without the absurdist energy, this derails fast.

The Cabin in the Woods2012

Whedon and Goddard's love letter to and critique of horror conventions. Every frame is doing something—visually inventive, darkly funny, and never condescending.

But The big reveal requires buying into a very high concept. Some find it clever; others find it pretentious and prefer their horror straightforward.

Nope2022

Jordan Peele's most ambitious film: sci-fi horror that's as much about spectacle, capitalism, and survival as it is about scares. Audacious and unsettling.

But It's oblique and sometimes opaque. The narrative threads don't tie up neatly, and the finale divides viewers on whether the ambiguity works.

Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror2019

A documentary that traces Black representation in horror from the beginning, contextualizing what *The Blackening* is actually doing. Educational and entertaining.

But It's primarily a talking-heads documentary. If you want narrative momentum over analysis, this will feel more academic than thrilling.

Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror poster

High Life2018

Both are about groups of people trapped in impossible circumstances, forced to weaponize their knowledge and consciousness to survive. But where *The Blackening* is energetic and joyful, *High Life* is cold and existential—a useful mirror.

Claire Denis's sci-fi horror is formally strange and genuinely disturbing—a meditation on bodily autonomy, reproductive coercion, and survival. It looks like nothing else and doesn't explain itself.

But This is oblique, slow, and sometimes opaque to the point of alienation. No jokes. If you need clear narrative logic and conventional pacing, this will exhaust you.