Karen (film)

Last updated
Karen
Karen2021poster.jpeg
Promotional release poster
Directed by Coke Daniels
Written byCoke Daniels
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyAnthony J. Rickert-Epstein
Edited byAziza Ngozi
Music byOm'mas Keith
Production
companies
Distributed by Quiver Distribution
Release date
  • September 3, 2021 (2021-09-03)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Karen is a 2021 American black horror crime-thriller film written and directed by Coke Daniels, and starring Taryn Manning, Cory Hardrict, Jasmine Burke, Roger Dorman, Brandon Sklenar, and Gregory Alan Williams. [1] [2] [3] [4] The title of the film is a reference to the American "Karen" stereotype. [5] The film was critically panned upon release.

Contents

Plot

Malik and Imani Jeffries, a young black couple, move into a new house in the fictional affluent suburban Atlanta community of Harvey Hill, named after Confederate general Daniel Harvey Hill. Harvey Hill Homeowners Association president Karen Drexler, their next-door neighbor and a widowed stay-at-home mother of two, quickly introduces herself to Malik; she refuses to shake his hand, callously comments about not "having any cash" in her home, and installs a security camera directed towards their house. Although perplexed by her behavior, the couple decides to ignore their concerns and focus on settling in.

Unbeknownst to both, the virulently racist Karen has Neo-Confederate memorabilia in her home and a reputation for abusing her power as president to target local black residents, often recruiting her equally racist brother, Atlanta Police Department patrolman Michael Wind, to assist her. She soon starts harassing and stalking the couple, trying to find something she can use to remove them from Harvey Hill. She discovers that Malik secretly smokes marijuana and catches her seventeen-year-old son Kyle watching the couple have sex through an open window, but when she raises the issue at a meeting of the association's executive board, the other members, disturbed by her bigoted remarks about African Americans, decide against taking any action.

After learning about a housewarming party that the couple is holding for their friends and neighbors, Karen convinces Imani that she wants to reconcile and is invited. At the party, she immediately offends the attendees by insinuating that if black Americans are unhappy about living in the country, they should simply relocate to Africa. The next day, she demands that a trio of black adolescents identify themselves. When they refuse, she notifies Mike via his phone number, falsely accusing them of harassment. The teenagers are released from jail after video footage of her phone call, recorded by the trio, and their subsequent arrest, recorded by Imani on her cellphone, surfaces. The Homeowners Association then dismisses her as president after being sued by prominent civil rights lawyer Charles Wright, the father of one of the young men.

Increasingly deranged and frustrated, Karen gets Mike to pull Malik over while driving home from work by revealing his past marijuana usage. Finding no marijuana in Malik's car, Mike plants a bag of the substance in the trunk, subsequently arresting him following a physical altercation. After his rookie partner, Officer Hill, accuses him of racism, Mike threatens to kill Hill if he ever double-crosses him again in the field, warning that a secret fraternal order within law enforcement known as "the brotherhood" shields him against any charges. Malik manages to post his own bail and arrives home the following morning. Karen then visits Imani, asking her and Malik to leave the neighborhood to avoid further trouble, but Imani defiantly declines. The couple then hires Charles to represent them; he produces a file suggesting that after a Black vigilante killed her police officer husband Ken Drexler and two other officers a few years earlier, Karen became unhinged and was later dismissed from her job as an elementary school teacher for making racist remarks towards her students.

That night, Mike, alerted by Karen of recent events, arrives with a falsified search warrant and arrests Malik again for owning an unregistered handgun, and Imani tearfully calls Charles, who calls the precinct and discovers Malik was not formally booked. Meanwhile, Karen cuts the power to the couple's house and breaks in with a gun. While Imani defends herself with a sword, Karen shoots at her several times, prompting a neighbor to call the police. Mike immediately rushes to Imani's house, where the siblings threaten her at gunpoint before Karen shoots her in the shoulder, seemingly killing her. Hill rushes in, and a standoff ensues until Mike and Hill shoot each other at close range; Mike is killed while Hill is only slightly wounded. Karen prepares to finish him off, but a still-alive Imani grabs Mike's gun and kills her in self-defense.

After Malik's release from custody, he and Imani receive a full apology and compensation from the city for their ordeal. Imani, now pregnant, assumes Karen's position within the Homeowners Association and successfully renames the community to John Lewis.

Cast

Production

Principal photography began in Georgia in December 2020. [9] [10] Filming wrapped in February 2021. [11]

Release

In August 2021, it was announced that Quiver Distribution acquired North American distribution rights to the film, which was released theatrically and on demand on September 3, 2021. [12]

Reception

Critical response

The film was mostly panned by critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 17% of 24 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 2.3/10. [13] Writing for RogerEbert.com, Nick Allen wrote that "The movie is clueless about to how be a thriller, in either a serious or tongue-in-cheek way...Even with the most basic forms of gratuitous schlock, Karen does not try." [14]

Michael Nordine, in Variety, wrote that "Anyone subjected to this...will want to get out of the theater as quickly as possible. Writer-director Coke Daniels’ satirical thriller offers little in the way of incisive social commentary or thrills...Karen plays out instead as a parade of clichés that escalate in terms of intensity but not tension. Karen reveals herself as an irredeemable racist the moment we meet her, and so there’s never any depth to her character...Shaky production values – abrupt cuts, image quality that feels more made-for-TV than silver screen – don’t help, but the main culprit is Daniels’ painfully unsubtle script." [15]

Richard Roeper commented in the Chicago Sun-Times that this "poorly executed tale of a hateful racist isn’t even worth watching as a curiosity. [It] contains no valuable insight or social commentary and simply plays like a Greatest Hits (or should we say Biggest F-Bombs) of horrific, racist, hateful behavior by the title character. This movie is so broad and so poorly executed it comes across as an extended SNL parody of a Jordan Peele film." [16]

On TheWrap , Elizabeth Weitzman observed that the film was a "genuine jaw-dropper on multiple levels, Coke Daniels’ Karen is a misbegotten thriller about a woman named Karen who actually is a Karen...Considering that there’s not a single twist or surprising moment, Karen fails as a thriller. Given that it delivers its messages – that Black lives matter, and that Karens and some cops are racist – with all the subtlety of a meme, it fails as a cultural critique." [17]

Accolades

YearAwardCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef.
2022
 Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Picture Mary Aloe, Sevier Crespo, Coke Daniels, Cory Hardrict and Taryn Manning Nominated [18]
Worst Director Coke DanielsNominated
Worst Actress Taryn ManningNominated
Worst Screenplay Coke DanielsNominated
Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel Karen (Inadvertent remake of Cruella )Nominated

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Roberts</span> American actor (born 1956)

Eric Anthony Roberts is an American actor. In a career spanning over 50 years, Roberts has amassed more than 700 credits and appeared in blockbusters, independent films, television series, animation, short films, and student films.

<i>Higher Learning</i> 1995 film by John Singleton

Higher Learning is a 1995 American Satire drama film written and directed by John Singleton and starring an ensemble cast. The film follows the changing lives of three incoming freshmen at the fictional Columbus University: Malik Williams, a track star who struggles with academics; Kristen Connor, a shy and naive girl; and Remy, a lonely and confused man seemingly out of place in his new environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanya Roberts</span> American actress (1949–2021)

Tanya Roberts was an American actress. Some of her credits include playing Julie Rogers in the final season of the television series Charlie's Angels (1980–1981), Stacey Sutton in the James Bond film A View to a Kill (1985), Sheena in Sheena: Queen of the Jungle (1984), Kiri in The Beastmaster (1982) and Midge Pinciotti on That '70s Show (1998–2004).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taryn Manning</span> American actress and singer

Taryn Manning is an American actress and singer. She is best known for portraying Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett in the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019), Cherry in Sons of Anarchy (2008–2010), Nola in Hustle & Flow (2005) and Janeane in 8 Mile (2002).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tia Mowry</span> American actress (born 1978)

Tia Dashon Mowry is an American actress. She first gained recognition for her starring role as Tia Landry in the sitcom Sister, Sister (1994–1999), opposite her twin sister Tamera Mowry. The sisters then starred together in the fantasy comedy film Seventeen Again (2000) and voiced the LaBelle sisters in the animated series Detention (1999–2000). The two also starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie Twitches (2005) and its sequel, Twitches Too (2007). They were featured in the reality series Tia & Tamera from 2011 to 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carla Gugino</span> American actress (born 1971)

Carla Gugino is an American actress. After early roles in the films Troop Beverly Hills (1989), This Boy's Life (1993), Son in Law (1993), and Snake Eyes (1998), Gugino received wider recognition for her starring roles in the Spy Kids trilogy (2001–2003), Sin City (2005), Night at the Museum (2006), American Gangster (2007), Righteous Kill (2008), Race to Witch Mountain (2009), Sally Jupiter in Watchmen (2009), Sucker Punch (2011), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), San Andreas (2015), Gerald's Game (2017), and Gunpowder Milkshake (2021).

<i>The Game</i> (2006 TV series) American comedy drama created by Mara Brock Akil

The Game is an American television series created by Mara Brock Akil. A spin-off of UPN's Girlfriends, the series premiered on its successor network The CW on October 1, 2006.

Denise Boutte is an American actress. She made her film debut starring in the 2004 horror feature Death Valley: The Revenge of Bloody Bill and in 2007 appeared in the comedy-drama Why Did I Get Married?. On television, Boutte was regular cast member on the TBS sitcom Meet the Browns (2009-2011).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cory Hardrict</span> American actor

Cory Hardrict is an American actor. He has appeared in film and television since the late 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexandra Daddario</span> American actress (born 1986)

Alexandra Anna Daddario is an American actress. She had her breakthrough portraying Annabeth Chase in the Percy Jackson film series (2010–2013). She has since starred as Paige in Hall Pass (2011), Heather Miller in Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013), Blake Gaines in San Andreas (2015), Summer Quinn in Baywatch (2017), and Alexis Butler in We Summon the Darkness (2019). She has also guest starred in television series such as White Collar, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, True Detective, New Girl, Why Women Kill and American Horror Story: Hotel. In 2021, she starred in the first season of the HBO series The White Lotus, for which she received critical acclaim and an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie in 2022. In 2023 she began playing the lead role of Dr. Rowan Fielding in the AMC series Mayfair Witches based on a series of novels written by author Anne Rice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noomi Rapace</span> Swedish actress (born 1979)

Noomi Rapace is a Swedish actress. She achieved international fame with her portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish film adaptations of the Millennium series (2009): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest. For her performance in the Millennium series, Rapace won amongst others two Nymphe d'Ors, a Guldbagge Award, and a Satellite Award as Best Actress, and was nominated for a BAFTA Award, an International Emmy Award and a European Film Award. Following the success of the Millennium series, Rapace has gone on to star in American movies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karen Gillan</span> Scottish actress (born 1987)

Karen Sheila Gillan is a Scottish actress and filmmaker. She gained recognition for her work in British film and television, particularly for playing Amy Pond, a primary companion to the Eleventh Doctor in the science fiction series Doctor Who (2010–2013), for which she received several awards and nominations. Her early film roles include Ally in the thriller film Outcast (2010) and Jane Lockhart in the romantic comedy film Not Another Happy Ending (2013). She also worked on the stage while in Britain, appearing in John Osborne's play Inadmissible Evidence (2011).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sophie Turner</span> English actress (born 1996)

Sophie Belinda Turner is an English actress. She made her acting debut as Sansa Stark in the HBO epic fantasy television series Game of Thrones (2011–2019), for which she received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jasmine Burke</span> American actress

Jasmine Burke is an American actress. She is known for her role as Dr. Christie Johnson in the Bounce TV prime time soap opera, Saints & Sinners (2016–2022).

First Wives Club is an American comedy television series based on the 1996 film of the same name written by Robert Harling; it premiered on September 19, 2019 on BET+. The series was renewed for a second season on November 26, 2019, premiering on July 15, 2021. On September 8, 2021, the series was renewed for a third season. Unlike the original film, the series features an entirely African-American cast.

<i>Gunpowder Milkshake</i> 2021 film by Navot Papushado

Gunpowder Milkshake is a 2021 action thriller film directed by Navot Papushado, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ehud Lavski. The film stars Karen Gillan as a young hitwoman who must team up with her estranged mother and her former colleagues in order to save a young girl from rival assassins sent by the grieving father of a man she killed on orders from the head of the HR department of The Firm, Nathan.

<i>Malcolm & Marie</i> 2021 film by Sam Levinson

Malcolm & Marie is a 2021 American black-and-white romantic drama film written, co-produced and directed by Sam Levinson. The film stars Zendaya and John David Washington and follows a writer-director and his girlfriend whose relationship is tested on the night of his latest film's premiere when revelations about themselves surface. The project was the first Hollywood feature to be entirely written, financed, and produced during the COVID-19 lockdowns, with filming taking place in secret in June and July 2020.

<i>Panama</i> (2022 film) 2022 American film

Panama is a 2022 action thriller film directed by Mark Neveldine and starring Cole Hauser and Mel Gibson. It was released in the United States on March 18, 2022 by Saban Films.

<i>On the Come Up</i> (film) 2022 film directed by Sanaa Lathan

On the Come Up is a 2022 American musical drama film directed by Sanaa Lathan in her feature directorial debut. Based on the 2019 novel of the same name by Angie Thomas, it stars Jamila C. Gray, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Mike Epps, Lil Yachty, Lathan, and Method Man.

References

  1. ↑ Ramos, Dino-Ray (26 August 2020). "Taryn Manning Feels Entitled In Timely Thriller 'Karen'; Devin Druid, Carmela Zumbado And Matthew Hancock Celebrate The Holidays In 'White Elephant' – Film Briefs". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  2. ↑ Dick, Jeremy (20 August 2020). "Karen Movie Is Happening with Taryn Manning". MovieWeb . Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  3. ↑ Bolling, Gaius (21 August 2020). "Taryn Manning Set To The Play The Ultimate Karen In New Suspense Thriller". JoBlo.com . Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  4. ↑ Espinal, Noel (27 October 2020). "Dublin raised Hollywood producers look to film timely thriller 'Karen' in Macon". WGXA . Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  5. ↑ Yalcinkaya, Gunseli (24 August 2020). "A Karen-inspired crime thriller is in the works". Dazed . Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  6. ↑ Welk, Brian (24 August 2020). "Taryn Manning to Star as 'Karen' in Suspense Thriller From Director Coke Daniels". TheWrap . Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  7. ↑ N'Duka, Amanda (18 December 2020). "Cory Hardrict To Star In 'Karen' Drama; Mauricio Henao Joins 'Panama'; Nolan River Cast In 'Old' – Film Casting Briefs". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  8. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (18 June 2021). "13 Films Boards Thriller 'Karen' With Taryn Manning, Cory Hardrict, Jasmine Burke — Cannes Market". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  9. ↑ Johnson, CJ (2 February 2021). "Here's The List Of Movies Being Filmed In Atlanta, Georgia Right Now". AtlantaFi.com. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  10. ↑ Ho, Rodney (17 February 2021). "What's filming in Georgia in February 2021?". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  11. ↑ Ho, Rodney (16 March 2021). "What's filming in Georgia in March, 2021?". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  12. ↑ Patrick Hipes (August 6, 2021). "'Last Night In Rozzie' Gets U.S. Deal Via Gravitas Ventures; Taryn Manning As 'Karen' Scooped Up By Quiver; Good Deed Music Arm; 'Blob Blob Fish' & 'Florian's Knights' Dates – Film Briefs". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Karen". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  14. ↑ Allen, Nick (September 3, 2021). "Karen movie review & film summary (2021)". RogerEbert.com . Archived from the original on July 19, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  15. ↑ Nordine, Michael (September 2, 2021). "'Karen' Review: A Perfectly Nice First Name Is Further Sullied by This Clunky Thriller". Variety . Archived from the original on November 26, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  16. ↑ Roeper, Richard (September 2, 2021). "Now there's a 'Karen' movie, and it's a terrible film about a terrible person". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on January 1, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  17. ↑ Weitzman, Elizabeth (September 1, 2021). "'Karen' Film Review: Ridiculous Thriller Tackles Racism With the Depth of a Meme". TheWrap . Archived from the original on February 8, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  18. ↑ Lewis, Hilary (February 7, 2022). "Razzies: Filmed Version of 'Diana' Stage Musical Tops 2022 Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.