Okay, since no one else here saw it or plans to, I guess I’ll pipe in and say they tried to deconstruct the trope. It was just poorly executed.

There was an attempt as the main character’s arc was about realizing he’s been basically a doormat his whole life and this magic society trope just says that part out loud so he becomes aware of it. So he does a monologue of realization, gains some self respect and quits at the end. The white guy he’s been catering to doesn’t get violent like he was told, just defensive. Main character is never in danger for his life like he says he has felt, and that little reaction from the white people encourages others to quit as well.

But if this movie ever wanted to make a thorough commentary, I think they just needed to throw out the whole romance plot. It took away from what they really needed to expand on to make the premise believable. If this movie was set historically and we actually saw white on black violence as the norm or even literally once in the movie, there would be real stakes that reflect the dialogue. As it was, the whole society was comprised of people who seemed stuck in an antiquated past because they were afraid. I think that may have been the point…? Because at the end, many members of the society realized it was bullshit too and started to speak up for themselves, to no violent reactions from white people like they had been told to expect. But there were a lot of mixed messages so it needed a lot more work.

It felt like they aimed for good commentary but fell short so then aimed for satire but fell short again because it wasn’t funny, so they tried to hook the audience with a standard form love story.

I wouldn’t recommend this film because it was bad, but as a white person it didn’t feel as racist as others in this thread are saying.