They they (which is pronounced “They-slash-Them”) is part of a genre that I have made an effort to explore in recent years: horror, more precisely slasher. It’s the latest in a long line of horror films from Blumhouse Productions; this year only they released Fire starter, The black phoneand will publish Halloween ends in October. It’s also the first Blumhouse movie to debut on Peacock, which is great for growing their original movie library. They they is very different from any horror movie I’ve seen because of the setting of the film: a gay conversion camp.
This review will contain spoilers, so you have been warned!
What I appreciate most about this film is the authentic LGBTQIA+ representation among the campers, with Theo Germaine leading the camper cast as Jordan. On the other side, you have the adults who run the Whistler camp, led by Kevin Bacon as Owen Whistler. Bacon makes his long-awaited return to the slasher genre, after starring in the original Friday 13. However, this time around, Bacon takes on an antagonistic role, which I expected since he runs a gay conversion camp. That being said, Bacon and Germaine give terrific performances in the film and their rivalry is instant from the start.
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Although it ends up being a slasher movie, the horror of the first half of the film comes from the purpose of the camp itself. Gay conversion camps and gay conversion therapy are absolutely inhumane and should be non-existent in this world; you can’t change who people are supposed to be. You see this in two of the camp counselors who are married (Hayley Griffith and Boone Platt), but are clearly attracted to and flirt with the campers. There are horrible things they did to the campers (one torture scene in particular), and I’m so sorry to anyone who’s experienced something like this in real life, because it actually happens.
This is your final major spoiler warning, so watch the movie before you end the review!
Anna Chlumsky gives a great performance as Molly, the camp nurse who ends up becoming the killer in the end. However, I understood that it was not the campers who had been killed, but the counselors who ran the camp. You would think going into the movie that the camp would slowly kill the kids, so I liked that twist. The rest of the campers also give good supporting performances, so overall they helped push the story forward. I would especially like to acknowledge Monique Kim and Anna Lore; they have great chemistry together and make their budding romance together believable.
Overall I liked They they for what it was: a film that shines a light on the horrors the LGBTQIA+ community has to go through because people can’t accept them for who they are. The script is sometimes a bit uneven, sometimes serious, and sometimes a campy slasher. The performances make up for that, so I highly recommend watching Peacock this weekend, especially if you’re a horror/slasher movie fan.
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