The Blackening

A missed opportunity for a complete story

The Blackening is a film that attempts to blend humor and horror, taking us on a journey with a group of old college friends as they celebrate Juneteenth with friends at a cabin. The discovery of a racist board game named "The Blackening" in the basement sets the stage for a series of chilling events. When the lights go out, a mysterious voice forces them to play the game, eventually leading to the mysterious disappearance of the first two friends to arrive at the cabin.

This is where the Objective Story Throughline kicks off the plot.

Unfortunately, this is the only Throughline provided by the film.

The Need for Subjective Throughlines

While the film is filled with suspense and comedic moments, it falls short of being a complete narrative. The Objective Story Throughline is present, detailing the external events and conflicts that the characters face. However, the subjective concerns, which should delve into the internal struggles and growth of the characters, are anemic at best.

The film attempts to insert some subjective concerns through some conversations between Allison and Dewayne--but they are not fully developed. For instance, we don't see a clear Main Character Throughline that would give us insight into Allison's internal struggles and personal growth. Similarly, Dwayne's Obstacle Character Throughline and Relationship Story Throughline of friendship between them, which would provide depth to the characters' relationships and conflicts, are also missing.

This lack of a complete story structure is what separates The Blackening from films like Get Out. In Get Out, the narrative not only encompasses external plot events through the psychological manipulations but also the Main Character's internal journey of paralysis and his growing relationships with the help at the house who share his same fate. This balance between the objective and subjective aspects of the story is what makes Get Out a compelling narrative.

And why you remember it years after.

And why you'll quickly forget The Blackening the next day.

And it's not simply that Get Out is a more serious, and more complex narrative and that's why it deserves detailed treatment. Even the road-trip comedy Bad Trip maintains all Four Throughlines regardless of how ridiculous some of the scenes are in that film.

A complete narrative gives us the one thing we can't get in real life: meaning. And while The Blackening was hilarious in parts, it was attempting to say something else in the background--but that message went unheard because of the broken narrative.

In conclusion, while The Blackening offers laughs and thrills, it misses the opportunity to deliver a complete story. By focusing solely on the Objective Story Throughline, it neglects the subjective concerns that would give depth to the characters and their relationships. This results in a narrative that, while entertaining, lacks the emotional resonance and depth of a complete story.