Black Final Girls

The horror genre is in a constant state of evolution. Decades ago, you could take a slasher with a theatric interest in blood and pair them with overly-intoxicated, under-dressed teens and you have a cult classic. Now, we are whisked away to lush remote compounds and met with sadistic cult leaders, but it seems like the real horror is the microaggressions that Black women know all too well.

Directorial debuts, Opus and Blink Twice , by Mark Anthony Green and Zoe Kravitz respectively feature Black women protagonists who, despite the efforts of their captors, live to see credits roll. These additions to the horror/thriller genre are redefining the classic final girl with signature skepticism and character agency, and wields racism as another tool against the protagonist. Enduring the subtle racism that is present throughout both films creates a tension that is equally recognizable and horrific.

The final girl trope refers to the surviving girl who faces off with the villain and many times kills them herself. Coined by Carol J. Clover in her 1987 article, Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film , Clover describes some of the defining traits of the final girl as pure, resourceful and intelligent. The audience subconsciously roots for these characters because of their assumed moral superiority. Pioneering characters of the trope include; Laurie Strode ( Halloween ), Sidney Prescott ( Scream ), Ellen Ripley ( Alien ). The trope has expanded to include more complex characters and storylines that do not force women protagonists to qualify their survival with purity. Main characters Ariel Ecton, played by Ayo Edebiri, ( Opus ) and Frida, played by Naomi Ackie, ( Blink Twice ) embody the original characteristics while also navigating the covert racism that obstructs their paths to survival. Final girls, Ariel and Frida demonstrate how racial bias creates obstacles that separate them from the classics.

In Opus, Green successfully creates an elaborate universe that balances the perfectly curated architectural backdrops with ritualistic gore. Ariel is a journalist much like Green who previously served as an editor for GQ. We first meet Ariel when she is at the daily budget meeting at her job where she is silenced by her boss Stan. She pitches an idea for an article which is swiftly picked apart by Stan. He acknowledges that her idea is poignant and would serve as a solid piece but does not entertain her writing it. Her ideas are easily commodified but are seen as not valuable when attached to her. She is the only Black employee that we see. Within minutes, it is clear that this behavior is recurring and Ariel has trouble advocating for herself in work related situations. This introductory scene highlights a widely common experience among Black women in corporate spaces like barriers to promotions and micro aggressive biases.

She and Stan are both invited to the private compound of the elusive pop star Moretti (John Malkovich). While there, they initially attempt to write an article about his upcoming album, Ceasar’s Request, but are slowly entangled in his plot to kill the participants in order to gain more Levelist cult followers. The Levelists are eerily accommodating and Ariel is rightfully skeptical. She voices her concern with the cult and the safety of the guests, however, she is silenced and gaslit despite having seen the threats with her own eyes. Specifically, after the guests are groomed for the listening party, she expresses her concerns to Stan and suggests she write a “companion piece” exposing the Levelists. He rejects this idea and states, “anything important about this place will be in my article.” He is promptly struck by an arrow in the shoulder.

The injury could very well have been an accident but it serves as a cold-blooded reminder that speaking out results in brutal consequences. Her self-doubt only manifests further as she pleads with the others to leave the compound and is once again shut down. It literally takes Ariel stumbling across a dead body before she musters the courage to publicly vocalize her desire to leave the compound; however, it’s too late. She is manipulated by Moretti into attending the puppet show which creepily introduces act three of the film and exposes the murderous plot leaving Ariel as the “sole survivor”.

Eventually, it is revealed that Ariel’s attendance and survival was planned. She was sought out by Moretti himself because he viewed her as a “pure vessel” who could aid in the plot by thoroughly detailing the events in a way that piqued the interest of potential new members. Once Moretti reveals his master plan, we can assume her Blackness is a crucial part in his selection process even though he never acknowledges it. The Levelists even pair her with a Black concierge likely to lower her guard. The same concierge is the one that gives Ariel the window to escape. He knew that given her background as a hungry junior writer she would craft a well written piece with global reach. He also knew that she would be suppressed by the others. Ariel battles systemic and casual racism until the bitter end and her counterparts die as a result of their inability to humanize her enough to take her seriously. She survives in the end but has to cope with the reality that she was an unwilling participant in the machine.

In Blink Twice , Kravitz shapes a world of effortless glamour set on a private island that plays host to billionaires who sexually abuse and torture their guests then wipe their memories daily using a chemical disguised as perfume. Frida, a cocktail waitress, crosses paths with Slater King (Channing Tatum) at a fundraiser and scores an invitation to the island for her and her friend Jess.

Frida is seduced by the idea of being invited to the island because in her daily life she is, or feels, invisible. Like the other women, she enjoys the fruits of the island and goes an unknown number of days or weeks without suspecting anything. She and Jess find it odd that they have to relinquish their phones at the start of the vacation but write it off as “rich people sh*t”. Being seen and desired by Slater makes Frida feel powerful and feminine. Frida is a quirky Black girl who in her everyday life would not necessarily be sought after by Slater King type men. Jess is bitten by a snake and her memories flood back, she pleads with Frida to leave and she declines because she feels “seen” for the first time. This speaks to the reality that Black women face in today’s dating scene that calls into question the colonial beauty standards that posit Black women as both undesirable and hyper-sexual. After Jess’s disappearance, Frida can’t shake the feeling that something is off and attempts to get the others to investigate to which they respond, “who’s Jess?”. The empty gen-z stares communicate that they don’t trust or value what she has to say. Eventually, Sarah (Adira Adjorna) confronts Frida privately and confirms that she also is suspicious of the villa but only after finding marks on her own body.

Blink Twice tackles white feminism through character Stacy, (Geena Davis) Slater’s personal assistant. She is aware of the heinous assaults that take place on the island and has seen countless people victimized but chooses to ignore the reality to secure her own power and safety. Rafia Zakaria’s book A gainst White Feminism Notes on Disruption , compiles evidence on the subject and makes a call to dismantle feminism that centers white, middle-class women. It is interesting to compare Stacy, a rich power hungry white woman to the housekeeper who actually helps Frida despite not being able to communicate with her. Stacy attacks Frida in an effort to maintain the status quo but is stabbed to death by Frida.

Frida faces off with Slater and takes a play out of his own book by lacing his vape with the perfume. The compound goes up in flames and we see Frida drag Slater’s unconscious body out of the flames. The film concludes with Frida, who is now married to Slater and the CEO of his company because she subdues him with the same chemical, looking directly into the camera signalling that she has reclaimed her power in the cycle. This is a direct nod to Audre Lorde’s, The Master’s Tool’s Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House book implying that even though Frida has secured her safety, she may not be free from the patterns of abuse.

Ariel and Frida are final girls not only in a literal sense because they survive but each character adds nuance to the trope that relies on their social position as Black women. They embody the pillars of the archetype with their resilience and adaptability, they also express agency subverting the notion that they must be pure to earn their survival. Ariel navigates a murderous cult and snatches her freedom and goes on the book tour of her dreams only to realize that she only furthered the cult’s reach. Frida survives systemic abuse, gets some blood on her hands and reclaims her power and visibility by using the same weapon against her captors. Both main characters battle doubt, dehumanization, and dismissal proving that the real horror is not limited to the obvious villains but exists in the normalized microaggressions deployed against Black women.

Opus and Blink Twice both expand the horror canon and challenge who deserves to survive. Both films center Black women in a genre that typically ignores their stories and confronts the intersectional struggles of race and gender. Ariel and Frida claim their survival through resistance and self-preservation. With these works, Green and Kravitz turn the final girl into a symbol of reclamation and make survival itself an act of defiance.