Written And Directed by John Logan
Owen (to the teens): "I can't make you straight but if you give us this week we might be able to help."
Okay, more LGBT horror. I was going to leave this for a bit but considering it came out well over a year, perhaps I had left it too. The general premise of this movie certainly raised an eyebrow though.
Setting a movie at a conversion camp with LGBT teens and a group of bigoted/closeted counsellors administering some of the worst conversion was horrifying in itself. However this movie decided to throw a serial killer in the mix. Dony worry, the victims are the very characters you want to see die in this particular setting.
However going back a bit, let's look at the LGBT characters spotlighted here. The main protagonist would be trans non-binary Jordan (Theo Germaine) who quickly made an enemy of the counsellors but they're the closest to a hero of the piece and the one who by the end of the movie declared that they didn't need saving when confronted by the killer.
The other LGBT character included Sondheim loving Toby (Austin Crute), trans girl Alexandra (Quei Tann), bisexual Veronica (Monique Kim), closeted lesbian Kim (Anna Lore), abrasive jock Stu (Cooper Koch) and secret plant Gabriel (Darwin Del Fabro). It's a decent mix of characters to go up against the counsellors whilst worrying about a serial killer in the mix.
The counsellors themselves included husband and wife duo Owen (Kevin Bacon) and Cora (Carrie Preston) and deeply closeted/self loathing anti-couple goals Zane (Boone Platt) and Sarah (Hayley Griffith). Owen and Cora were quick to drop their initial nice act, both aiming their ire at Jordan specifically while Zane seemed to enjoy torturing Stu and Sarah likewise too much pleasure toying with Kim and Veronica.
As for the killer themselves, having a counsellor named Molly (Anna Chlumsky) be a former victim of conversion camp seeking revenge was a move. Honestly, I probably would've helped as she only went after the counsellors and none of the kids themselves. Her methods might have been brutal but it was hard not to sympathise with her overall.
- The film is literally pronounced They Slash Them and was another Blumhouse exclusive for Peacock.
- The camp was called Whistler Camp and at one point, Veronica and Kim mentioned Jason Voorhees. Kevin Bacon was in the first Friday The 13th movie.
- Standout music: Nice use of Pink's Perfect.
- Chronology: Summer 2022, likely tying in with it's release on Peacock.
They/Them does seem to be a well intentioned horror flick and probably didn't need the serial killer plot. The characters are fine and there's an attempt to nuance both the villains and killer with mixed results. Overall not bad but could be a lot better.
Rating: 6 out of 10
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