What’s a hilarious medley of Black friends to do when they’re cruelly placed in a slasher, a genre notorious for killing off Black characters before the real gore even begins? They can’t all die first! In Tim Story’s brazenly meta-horror comedy The Blackening, co-writers Tracy Oliver and Dewayne Perkins amplify the latter’s 2018 Comedy Central sketch to a whole new level. A film just as devoted to its roaring one-liners and deadpan physical comedy as it is bold with a serious take on culture crisis, The Blackening proudly boasts its slasher-parody outline and makes the narrative transparently personal for its people.

Spoilers Ahead

Plot Synopsis: What Happens In ‘The Blackening’?

Well, they may not all die, but since when has a slasher cold-open been merciful to a couple staying in a cabin in the middle of nowhere? The only thing that stands out in the case...