
Tyrel 3 ½ stars
Tyrel, by director Sebastian Silva can be called a subtle horror movie with a racial twinge. It doesn’t have the sci-fi mind bending elements of Get Out, but is none the less full of racially related moments of tension. Tyler (Jason Mitchell of Mudbound), a young black man has taken up his friend John’s (Christopher Abbott) offer to join him for a guy’s weekend in update New York since Tyler’s girlfriend has taken over his own apartment for the time being. Tyler is surprised to learn that he is the only black person among the eight or so young men at the isolated house in the woods where there is to be an alcohol fueled weekend of reckless games and other foolishness. Upon meeting, one of the white guests mispronounces Tyler’s name as Tyrel, but we are not sure if the act was intentional leaving us to wonder what is to come. The evening proceeds with a silly game where each person takes a turn imitating a voice of different ethnicities with Tyler being asked to imitate a black New Orleans woman. This is awkward to say the least. Although nothing overtly racist is said to our black guest, we are made to feel uncomfortable as many of the remarks said could be called insensitive. I was wondering throughout the film (less than one and a half hours) just how bad things would get for Tyler. He has to constantly stay on the defensive and be careful about how he reacts to various indiscretions such as when one drunk member decides that he should burn a religious painting because it would be funny. Fortunately, it did not descend into full horror, but things are bad enough that we feel for him and hope that he will emerge from a dangerous situation unscathed. The movie is set in the days immediately following the Donald Trump inauguration. (Any movie that involves destroying an effigy of Trump adds a half star to the rating.) Jason Mitchell plays his role well making us believe the fear that he is experiencing. I hope to see more of him in future movies.