By Kayla Newton
I think everyone can agree that three-day holiday weekends are THE BEST. The kids get off from school, and almost everyone else gets to kick back and relax as well. But while you’re relaxing, you might as well check out these incredible movies that I’ve handpicked especially for Juneteenth weekend.
In Theaters Now
The Blackening
The Blackening is a horror-comedy movie that was released June 16th, 2023. The aptly named film features seven black friends who go away together for the Juneteenth weekend and end up trapped in a cabin with a vengeful killer.
This slasher movie takes a satirical stab at the racial stereotypes and clichés often found within the horror film genre. The tagline brilliantly states, “we can’t all die first.”
The film is based off of a 2018 short film of the same name. The characters must rely on their knowledge of black culture in order to survive.
Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg, X Mayo, Dewayne Perkins, Antoinette Robertson, Sinqua Walls, Jay Pharoah, and Yvonne Orji are the main cast of the movie.
The Little Mermaid (2023)
The Little Mermaid (2023) is the newest rendition of another animated Disney movie no one asked to be live action. But this one is definitely worth seeing! For those of you that have been living under a rock (or under the sea), The Little Mermaid is a Disney princess movie about a mermaid named Ariel who yearns to live above water.
In the original Disney animated version that was released in 1989, Ariel is a fair-skinned mermaid with firetruck-red hair. In the 2023 iteration, Ariel is played by the talented black actress, Halle Bailey. The new Ariel sports beautiful orange locs, and still has a Jamaican crab for a best friend.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Miles Morales, the Afro-Latino teen, exaggerates his swagger in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. This movie is the sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, in which Miles gains powers from a radioactive spider bite.
The film was released on June 2nd 2023, and is the longest animated film produced by an American studio. Shameik Moore voices the teenage superhero, as he ventures through the multiverse.
Movies You Can Stream Right Now
For the people who would rather watch movies in the comfort of their own home, here are some movies that you can stream:
- Hidden Figures– Hidden Figures is a biographical film that features three black female mathematicians that worked for NASA during the mid-1900s. This movie can be streamed on Disney Plus, Apple TV+, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and more.
- I Am Not Your Negro– This movie is a documentary film that utilizes James Baldwin’s memories of civil rights leaders to traverse the racist history of America. You can find this movie on YouTube TV, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ and more.
- The Color Purple (1985)- The film depicts the story of a black teenage girl in the early 1900s going through race-related tribulations. You can view this classic on Max, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, and more.
- Emancipation– Emancipation is a historical action thriller about a runaway slave played by Will Smith. You can watch this Apple TV+.
Harriet– This movie is a biographical film that tells the story of African-American hero Harriet Tubman. You can watch it on Max, Hulu, Apple TV+, and more.
