After a lot of teasers, Amazon released the official trailer for Them, the new horror anthology series from executive producers Lena Waithe and Little Marvin that promises to deal with American issues through a terrifying lens. The first season, which is set in the 1950s, will deal directly with racism during a period of American history known as "The Great Migration" — something that the new trailer makes clear in a disturbing way.
The trailer for Them follows the Emory family, filled with the hope of a better life, and their happy arrival to the Los Angeles suburb of Compton. Lucky and Henry Emory (Deborah Ayorinde and Ashley Thomas) and their two daughters, Ruby (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Gracie (Melody Hurd), are shown settling into their new house in their new neighborhood, which serves as a symbol of the American Dream, especially in the ’50s. The gleeful soundtrack, then, starts to transform as this Black family gets to know their white neighbors, who seem to welcome them but soon prove menacing. Led by housewife Betty Wendell (Alison Pill), the neighborhood unite to deal with what they feel is their biggest concern: The Emorys moving in. From that moment on, the Emorys get constantly attacked, in an attempt to drive the family away from their new home. And if the racist neighbors were not already a menacing threat, the trailer also shows more of the supernatural danger the Emorys will have to face in their new home, with special attention to the minstrel figure which was also present in the first Them trailer.
With the focus of Them on racism and segregation as a form of horror in itself, is not hard to understand why Amazon’s new series makes us think immediately in Get Out and Us, both masterpieces from Jordan Peele. It’s also easy to draw comparisons with His House (picked as one of Collider’s best movies of 2020), which subverts the haunted house formula to mix horror with social commentary. If Them ends up being half as good as the movies and series it brings to mind, it will be a must-see experience.
While we wait for Them to be released on Amazon’s Prime Video next April 9, you can check the official trailer right here:
Also, here's the official synopsis for Them as well as three new character posters:
'Them' is a limited anthology series that explores terror in America. The 1950s-set first season centers on a Black family who moves from North Carolina to an all-white Los Angeles neighborhood during the period known as The Great Migration. The family’s idyllic home becomes ground zero where malevolent forces, next-door and otherworldly, threaten to taunt, ravage and destroy them.
