'They/Them' - Movie Review 2022

They/Them is a horror movie written and directed by John Logan, starring Theo Germaine, Kevin Bacon, and Carrie Preston.

Synopsis

A group of LGBTQIA+ teens is sent to camp Whistler to “heal”. The problem is the same as “always” in summer camps (at least in this genre), they run into a guy with a mask ready to kill left and right.

Review

This is a horror movie that tries to stand out by blending “close to impossible to blend” aspects, but this aspiration is precisely what makes this a quirky feature.

It manages to create a drama within a genre that does not allow for much room for it, and also manages to inject certain seriousness when that is difficult to extract from a slasher movie.

Without getting into the social aspects, this movie is quite amusing, and evidently, the director and screenplay writer’s intention was to surprise the spectator with a typical slasher horror movie story, although with a slightly different approach.

The cinematography is good, with good photography and frames. It has a well adapted sense of rhythm and tempo in its narrative. And, yes, it is a slasher movie, but it is also something else given the characterizations and that it tells a novel story in a film genre that is hard to imagine could come up with something original.

Our Opinion

If it hits the mark with the broad audience is difficult to forecast. What we appreciate about the movie is the daring in its attempt to create a story that is different from the traditional slashers we have seen before, and to do so with some zest.

Other Reviews

“A fright free slasher that completely misses the mark”
Barry Levitt: SlashFilm

“John Logan’s directorial debut can’t decide if it wants to deliver a queer twist on ‘Friday the 13th’ or challenge the clichés of gay victimhood.”
Peter Debruge: Variety