Them (2021)

Them is truly great bit of horror wrapped around a biting commentary about American racism. ... This narrative and acting excellence is consistently complimented by Them‘s beautiful camerawork and inspired soundtrack.

The power of Them lies in the fact that it has no ambiguity in this regard. The permission structure Betty has created to enable her racism is a lie that harms her as well.

What marks out this portrayal of 50s prejudice (not unworked ground) is that, thanks to magnificent performances from Thomas and Ayorinde, you get a great sense of the cost to victims: the sheer amount of mental energy it takes to navigate a relentlessly hostile world, the consequent exhaustion, the constant abrading of the soul. If the series has a weakness as a horror story, it’s that the supernatural stuff is really a bagatelle.

It gets painfully uncomfortable, particularly in the two “Covenant” episodes, but although “trauma porn” is often used to describe such renderings, there is nothing gratuitous or pornographic in its depictions of Black trauma. Perhaps in this regard, the exceptional performances of the cast are both blessing and curse.

If, as mentioned, the first episode feels like the set-up for a great movie, the second has the feeling of said movie being haphazardly adapted into a series, introducing all sorts of new strands and ideas and bits of backstory that have the cumulative effect of flattening that airtight first installment, and turning it into yet another flabby binge that overstays its welcome. Maybe “Them” recovers, or synthesizes its materials more smoothly. At this point, it could go either way.