by This spring, theaters will be filling up to see Dewayne Perkins, Melvin Gregg, Sinqua Walls, Yvonne Orji and more hilariously deciphering which “blackest” member of their friend group will survive a murderer.
Directed by Tim K. Story and written by Tracy Oliver and Perkins, The blackening is a horror-comedy that explores various racial tropes through “seven black friends who go away for Juneteenth weekend, only to find themselves trapped in a shack with a killer.”
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The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and is based on the 2018 Comedy Central digital short of the same name. The viral clip mocked the stereotype that black characters always die first in horror films. However with The blackeninga new question is raised: What happens if every character is black? Story, Oliver and Perkins spoke to VIBE about how the film tackles representation and stereotypes in hilarious ways that continue to elevate the culture.
“I think filming the movie and then being able to watch it and remember the amount of fun I had filming it, and seeing how well it translated on screen is something I’ll never forget,” said Perkins. “I think that’s what makes the movie so good, because you see these people who are true friends. I remember going through the filming process thinking, ‘Oh, every day I get closer to these people.’”
Additionally, Oliver said, “I think for me there’s a whole scene that we took, I think, from Dewayne’s original sketch where it was how everyone defined themselves and how black they are in different ways or how not black they are. But what I think is really cool about the movie is that while they’re all clearly different black characters in different ways, they all have a united front and solidarity throughout the movie.
Speaking of typical horror movies where divisions are made between characters who only want to save themselves, the girls trip writer continued, “I think that’s refreshing because I often think in a lot of horror movies, you see there’s a lot of division or people making selfish choices or doing things that save themselves but not the others.”
“There’s a sense of solidarity even though they fight and fight each other, but it’s all love,” she added. They’re family and they’re friends, and you see them throughout the movie making choices to save the group versus themselves. I think that’s so cool.”
For Story, the best part of this project was being behind the camera watching the whole story come to life.
“I love the fact that people can come back and think in the future, ‘Hey, what’s a black horror movie with all black characters and they didn’t die and all this?'” he said. “They’ll look at The turn blackand that’s cool to think about.
Aside from writing the comedy, Perkins also tackles black representation with his portrayal of a gay male best friend who is much more than a “joke tool.”
“The portrayal of queer black people in the media – there’s a lot of work to be done,” said the comedian who identifies with the LGBTQIA community. “Often they are used as aids to jokes and not as fully developed characters with depth. It was very important to me to expand the “gay best friend trope” into a character – so that it is no longer a trope, but a person, a full-fledged person.
“Especially because it’s in an all-black space — giving space to queerness that is equal and not talked down or used in ways that aren’t for the betterment of that identity,” he added. “I feel like my character is particularly bi**h, quite literally (laughs). So I think that was very intentional, and I hope that when people look at it, they see why my character exists and the importance of the character and queer people in black culture.
If The blackening waiting for the upcoming premiere, the 30-year-old actor and writer is already thinking about his next film endeavors and who he might see as his on-screen parents.
“I think there are other facets of horror within the genre that I think are interesting to explore. Like supernatural,’ he thought. “I also have this vision where I want Marlon Wayans and Regina Hall to play my parents, just because I thought, ‘Oh, this is for me, the content I’ve been absorbing all my life.’ Knowing the inspiration they’ve had on me personally and this movie, I think that would be a round moment for me, so I put that in the universe.”
The horror comedy also stars Antoinette Robertson, X Mayo, Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Jay Pharoah, and James Preston Rogers. The blackening premieres this Juneteenth (June 16). Watch the new official trailer below.
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