I don’t want to hear no hate complaints about racism, prejudice etc. all this is, is a culmination of internal and external black jokes trying to accumulate buckets and buckets of laughs and just have a bit of fun along the way. They definitely got a few buckets from me ha-ha.
Based on a skit by the same name… seven friends go away for the weekend to celebrate Juneteenth and end up trapped in a cabin with a killer who has a vendetta. They are tasked with playing a board game which results in actual deaths if they get the trivia questions wrong. Will their street smarts and knowledge of horror movies help them stay alive? Probably not. A comical take on the slasher, Saw type genre.
It’s a small and yet effective cast full of black excellence. We have comedians Jay Pharoah and Yvonne Orji star as Shawn and Morgan, with their little screen time they are brilliant. They really kick off the film sprinkling their brand of comedy over their scenes. We then meet the rest of the cast in one fell swoop.
I got the impression that each character was a representation of the typical stereotypes in the community.
Grace Byers is Allison, our source of mixed-race banter. It was nice to see her in a likeable role. Jermaine Fowler is Clifton the nerd of the group. His mouth alteration was weird and not needed I don’t think. Melvin Gregg was brilliant as King. He represented the thuggish and biracial relationship jokes. X Mayo was Shanika who just seemed too angry all the time. She was hilarious. Dewayne Perkins played Dewayne. The gay guy of the group who is passionate and loyal to his friends. Antoinette Robinson as Lisa, the successful black woman. Sinqua Walls as Nnamdi the African centric dude who is also a dog in a relationship. Last and not least Diedrich Bader the seasonal vet of the comedy genre as Ranger White. It’s a good group who gel really well together.
With a $5million budget the production quality was excellent and stretched fully. With the whole movie taking place in one location that helped. The minimal use of special effects is shoddy but it’s easy to by-pass because that’s not the films primary tool. Some scenes can be quite dark and hard to see but again they are minimal. Decent soundtrack from legends like Nas, Ann Peebles and many more.
It’s a hilarious film. The characters bring a lot of fun and energy to it and they are the main heart of the film. It’s the ultimate gathering of chief influencers/content makers who I have known over the years actually swimming in their acting bag now, I am very proud of them. It’s a film that doesn’t take itself seriously so I don’t expect anyone else to. Its light in the story department and the stride of the film is quite wobbly in the sense that it just moves along from beginning to end. No back stories, flashbacks etc. The comedy is reminiscent of the same humour of the 2000s spoof movies like Scary Movie, Don’t Be a Menace etc. it will be hard for most to digest in this social climate of intolerable imprisonment. For example, the board game host is a “black face” model asking trivia questions about famous black shows which even had me doing calculations and searching my memory banks to answer. Disclaimer: I would have died at round one! There’s this neat feature they use which was brilliant. Black people being able to communicate telepathically and it was well utilised you can’t help but laugh. They have mini plot points around bullying, friendship, love, relationships, etc. it’s a nice touch but again not enough for us the audience to care about. Some jokes hit and some jokes don’t, some will get it and some wont. Nonetheless it’s a hysterical ride.
All in all, it’s a throwback to the parody genre that translated well and I’m personally hoping it’s a relaunch of the genre. Just movies trying to have fun, laughs and just unserious. We need a space for it. There is a space for it. Society just has this lack of tolerance for dark comedy nowadays that folks are hesitant to step into the space. I admire the bravery of this bunch very highly. No sequel required, but I do want to see more of these types of films. It’s a recommended watch!
Do you feel there is room for parodies in the industry? Around racism and stereotypes? Who was your favourite character? How many of the trivia questions did you get right? React and comment below…
