South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival – Per an introduction message from its creator, writer, and producer Little Marvin, Them (2021) will be a TV show available through Amazon studios that tells a frightening tale of the disenfranchised in America and their lack of access to homeownership. Directed by Nelson Cragg, this tea of horror steeped in socio-political waters will be premiering at SXSW Online 2021 among the other TV pilot pieces.

Them follows the family of Henry Emory (Ashley Thomas), a black man moving his family out west to Compton, CA to start a new job as an Engineer. Unbeknownst to his wife and daughters, the neighborhood that they are moving to is typically whites only, and as a result, are immediately ostracized and harassed. The youngest daughter and the mother begin to feel the presence of a mysterious, aggressive being in the house, meanwhile, the father and the oldest sister repeatedly experience racial aggressions while adjusting to work and school in LA. As the neighborhood bands together to try to get the family to leave the area, the family must band together in order to survive the onslaught of attacks in order to live in their chosen neighborhood.

I was infinitely excited by the team behind this film, starring breakout actress from Us (2019) Shahadi Wright Joseph as the family’s daughter, Alison Pill (Picard), Ashley Thomas as the father, and Deborah Ayorinde (Harriet) as the mother. Them is the kind of TV show that sticks to the brain like gum to a shoe, its haunting music, its intense acting, its inherently polarizing premise of racial relations, and its perfectly executed transportation back to the pressurized and oppressive climate of mid-century America had me positively glued to the screen. I felt like I held my breath through its nearly 2-hour long runtime covering the first 3 (out of 10) episodes of the series, and I was waiting in anticipation for whatever was going to happen next!

The initial episodes of Them seemed to pit supernatural elements against psychological breaks of the characters’ minds — this battle of psychosis vs. monsters was great to watch! I only felt Them stumbled while delivering 1 out of its only 2 jumpscares that it attempted, so I do question the ability of the show to deliver truly horrific moments, though this review is based on only the first 3 episodes, and in any case, the show is definitely not lacking in the thrill department.

Them captures a similar tone and atmosphere to that of HBO Max’s Lovecraft Country (2020), both being shows that do not shy away from the atrocities of racially motivated terrorism, instead, using them to tell some of the chapters from American history that are typically skipped. In doing this, writer Little Marvin reimagined a more positive future for the people who have experienced such tortures, which for the purposes of this show, is living out the American dream in the suburbs of LA. I do love Lovecraft Country because of its sci-fi elements, but Them replaces that aspect with psychological thrills, so I imagine anyone who enjoyed Lovecraft Country should also find value and entertainment with Them.

I am excited to have Amazon access so I can watch this show when it becomes available to binge, I foresee myself easily getting sucked into this series as the pilot episode certainly left me begging for more. Half of the characters are terrible people, but I love each and every character I met in Little Martin’s, Them. The full range of human emotion was packed into this nearly 2-hour viewing following 3 days of racial, emotional, and psychological battles of one American family against a neighborhood of racists.

Them reviewed as part of our South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival coverage.

8.25 out of 10