27 best horror shows to watch (and 14 shows you should skip)
By Mads Lennon
Horror shows: Them
- Seasons: 1
- Created by: Little Marvin
- Starring: Deborah Ayorinde, Ashley Thomas, Alison Pill, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Melody Hurd and Ryan Kwanten
- Streaming: Prime Video
Them debuted in the first half of 2021 to really mixed reviews due to its subject matter. Set in 1953, the series, created by Little Marvin and executive produced by Lena Waithe, revolves around a black family who migrates to an all-white neighborhood in Los Angeles.
As you can imagine, the series is full of horrific racism and racially-motivated violence as the family is terrorized by their white neighbors. The latter is intent on destroying them just because they’re black. Them obviously takes nods and inspiration from Jordan Peele’s films, the socially-conscious Get Out and Us.
But whereas Peele approached his material with nuance and creativity, Them feels like torture porn more often than not in the way it gleefully seems to revel in tormenting its black characters in exceedingly graphic terms repeatedly throughout its runtime. It’s more exhausting and traumatizing to watch than anything else. Angelica Jade Bastién, a culture writer for Vulture, wrote a piece about Them and its many issues that hits the nail on its head and explain the show’s problems more eloquently than I ever could.
But in short, Them falls flat, and even if you look past its unnecessary violence, the show is bloated and has way too much going on. The one high point is the acting from the leads, but that’s about it.
Verdict: SKIP