Them (2021 TV series)

Them is an American horror drama streaming television anthology series created by Little Marvin and executive produced by Lena Waithe. The series stars Deborah Ayorinde, Ashley Thomas, Alison Pill, and Ryan Kwanten and premiered on Prime Video on April 9, 2021 to mixed reviews, with a 62% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Premise.
Set in 1953, "Them: Covenant" follows a black family who, during the Second Great Migration, moves from North Carolina to an all-white neighborhood in Los Angeles. The family's idyllic home slowly transforms into an epicenter of evil forces, next-door and otherworldly, that threaten to haunt, ravage and destroy them.
Production.
Development.
On July 28, 2018, Amazon gave the project a two-season order. The series was created by Little Marvin, who also wrote the script for the first season and was set to executive produce the show alongside Lena Waithe under their overall deals with Amazon Studios. Roy Lee, Miri Yoon, and Michael Connolly of Vertigo Entertainment were also announced as executive producers, with Vertigo co-producing the series under the company's deal with Sony Pictures Television. The first season is subtitled "Them: Covenant", and the series will follow a similar limited semi-anthological structure to "American Horror Story", with each season following a different story with different characters. Alongside the series order announcement, Waithe said:
On April 1, 2019, David Matthews joined the series as showrunner under his newly-announced overall deal at Sony Pictures Television. On November 19, 2019, it was announced that Larysa Kondracki was attached to executive produce the series as well as direct multiple episodes including the pilot under her overall deal at Amazon Studios.
Casting.
On July 27, 2019, Deborah Ayorinde and Ashley Thomas were cast in the lead roles. Shahadi Wright Joseph, Alison Pill, Ryan Kwanten, Melody Hurd, Javier Botet, and Percy Hynes White were added to the main cast on October 3, 2019, alongside Derek Phillips who was cast in a recurring capacity. On December 2, 2019, Brooke Smith, Anika Noni Rose P.J. Byrne, Malcolm Mays, Jeremiah Birkett, and Sophie Guest joined the recurring cast.
Filming.
The series began production on July 8, 2019, with filming taking place between Atlanta and Los Angeles.
Release.
The series had its world premiere on March 18, 2021 at the SXSW Film Festival as part of the Episodic Premieres section. The series premiered on Prime Video on April 9, 2021.
Reception.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series has a 62% fresh rating from 42 critic reviews with an average score of 6.61/10. The site's critical consensus reads "Deborah Ayorinde and Ashley Thomas' gripping performances help "Them" sustain a sufficient sense of terror, but its blunt and bloody approach undermines any social commentary in favor of more superficial horrors." On Metacritic, the series received a mixed rating of 59/100 based on 18 critic reviews.
"The Guardian"s Lucy Mangan gave the show 4/5 stars, writing that "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." 
In a mostly negative review, Lovia Gyarkye of "The Hollywood Reporter" said that ""Them" suffers from an overcrowded narrative and too many themes, making for an uneven, dizzying, at times overly dense viewing experience. From the violent neighbors and the history of Black homeownership to the traumas that plague each member of the Emory family, the show takes on more than it can responsibly unpack." "Variety"s chief TV critic Daniel D'Addario wrote that "In visual style and in the performances of the actors playing the Emorys, it captures a recognizable 1950s of the mind. A striking early sequence sees the family in integrated settings, being assisted by white employees at an appliance store and a soda fountain. The point is made, elegantly, that the Emorys have left behind the explicit bigotry of the American South for a place where the horrors are more insidious." but described the series as "surprisingly unimaginative".
Some critics took issue with scenes of graphic racial violence, particularly a scene in which a Black couple is blinded with hot pokers and burned alive, calling "Them" "black trauma porn".