A bromantic getaway
ON its face, “Tyrel” bears some similarities to 2017’s memorable horror film “Get Out.” It’s about a young black man (Jason Mitchell) stuck on a weekend with an all-white crew. And there’s the presence of Caleb Landry Jones, who played the lacrosse stickwielding brother in “Get Out.” But this is a very different vibe: It’s a low-key, highly plausible rendition of race and group dynamics, and their messy intersection.
Set at a Catskills cabin, the film has you bracing for the worst as Mitchell’s Tyler and his pal Johnny (Christopher Abbott) meet up with Johnny’s friends. Minutes in, Tyler’s already been mistakenly referred to as “Tyrel” and harangued for not remembering Jones’ character (they’ve never met, Tyler just “looks familiar”).
The weekend is a parade of over- the-hill frat guy stuff, with nonstop drinking games that Tyler quickly finds tedious. Subtle and not-sosubtle racial tweaks abound: Tyler’s interrogated about his views on grits; he draws a slip of paper during one game that asks him to read a movie quote in “black accent.”
When Tyler does make a run for it, he finds no simple answers at the home of a local played by Ann Dowd, who adds a little sparkle every time she appears in a film.
“Tyrel” doesn’t uniformly point to race for the discomfort. While some moments are clearly racial, Tyler’s also the newcomer to the group. As he inches slowly out of the room, while the rest dance like Charlie Brown characters to R.E.M., director Sebastián Silva (“Nasty Baby”) leaves it to you to decide whether this is white-people nonsense or just insider-outsider discord. Likely it’s both.
Running time: 86 minutes. Not rated (language, drug use). In theaters Wednesday. — Sara Stewart