Boys’-weekend cringefest Tyrel puts Jason Mitchell through the microaggression ringer
Sebastián Silva’s Tyrel puts an existential spin on the time-honored tradition of “a guy’s weekend” by providing a menacing edge to superficially safe situations. Tyler (Mudbound’s Jason Mitchell), wishing to escape the stress of his girlfriend’s family, joins his friend Johnny (Christopher Abbott) for a birthday celebration in a secluded Catskills cabin. He’s soon confronted by Johnny’s group of white, hyper-aggressive friends who wish to do nothing more than get drunk and goof around. Initially mistaken for “Tyrel” (hence the title), Tyler uneasily joins in with most of the shenanigans but quickly finds himself alienated from the jokes and games, especially as there’s a tinge of casual racism to the interactions. Although Silva characterizes the group as well-meaning, upper-middle-class liberals, their in-group shorthand is clearly built atop a foundation of entitlement and privilege. They speak with post-racial confidence by treating the black guy in their midst like “one of the fellas,” but are completely ignorant to how their behavior might affect someone like him. Tyrel is essentially Microaggressions: The Movie.
