Film Review: THEY/THEM (2022): Kevin Bacon is Solid in a Bold and Ambitious Horror Film

They/Them Review

They/Them (2022) Film Review, a movie written and directed by John Logan and starring Kevin Bacon, Theo Germaine, Anna Chlumsky, Carrie Preston, Quei Tann, Austin Crute, Anna Lore, Monique Kim, Cooper Koch, Darwin del Fabro, Hayley Griffith, Boone Platt, Mark Ashworth, Brooke Jaye Taylor, Steven Anthony Washington, Destiny Danielle Freeman and Noelle Cameron.

John Logan’s They/Them is an ambitious project that is, perhaps, too clever for its own good. There are many things about the movie that people could admire yet there are also some cringe inducing moments in the film that probably should have been left on the cutting room floor. Still, Kevin Bacon is back in top form as the head of a gay conversion camp called Whistler and there’s plenty of suspense sprinkled throughout the film which may make it a curiosity piece for horror fans and Bacon admirers.

The movie opens with an older woman (Brooke Jaye Taylor) driving on a road at night time. It’s a typical way to open a slasher film as this lady meets a dire fate but the movie soon unveils its main premise which involves a camp run by a man named Owen (Bacon) alongside his wife, Cora (Carrie Preston). As the picture begins, a new group of young people are being introduced at the camp to its workers. These people headed by Owen seem to have a pretty intense agenda and the movie never makes certain how, exactly, the camp was marketed but we feel sorry for the young folks who are in attendance nevertheless.

Theo Germaine is Jordan, the movie’s focused central character out of the young people who are displayed in the film. Jordan has some key scenes that help develop the plot such as when Owen tries to get a camper named Toby (a very good Austin Crute) to shoot a sickly dog. Jordan does what Owen wants Toby to do to get Toby off the hook casting some doubt as to Jordan’s true overall intentions. Toby is feeling some uneasy vibes about shooting a dog and Jordan seems to have a fearlessness about him which will make him become the star of the movie. The central young female in the group is Kim (Anna Lore) who is wooed in style by Veronica (Monique Kim) in one of the film’s most steamiest moments.

There are two standout performances here besides the frightening turn by Bacon. The first is from Anna Chlumsky who appeared (when she was much younger) in the Macaulay Culkin film, My Girl. Chlumsky expertly plays one of the workers at the conversion camp who gets confrontational with Owen after he uses shock therapy to treat a hunk named Stu (Cooper Koch) after he fools around with Gabriel (Darwin del Fabro, the other standout in the cast). Del Fabro is excellent playing a unique character with a surprise agenda in the movie and a sex scene between Gabriel and Stu is played to Cigarettes After Sex music which is great. The scene, however, pushes the envelope of sex sequences just like the one between Kim and Veronica that precedes it. I would say the same thing about these scenes if they featured straight characters. The scenes are a bit too risque for their own good in this particular movie.

I haven’t mentioned the masked serial killer who is killing off people at the conversion camp. This character would be the, pardon the pun, “hook” of the movie if it weren’t such a silly idea. The movie has good intentions to be sure but the mix of slasher film moments with more heavy scenes of torture within the camp can make some viewers a bit uneasy, It all depends on what each viewer takes to the table with them when viewing They/Them. This picture’s premise could be viewed as a bit of a “Catch-22.” You can’t have the slasher film without the twisted characters headed by Bacon and you can’t have a movie like this about the abusive camp owners without the demented slasher at large. And, of course, it would not be as diverse if the central young characters weren’t gay. There’s no way to please everyone here and that is the road block the movie crashes into at one point halfway through the picture.

They/Them is proficiently made from a technical standpoint. John Logan has commanded really intense performances from the majority of his cast members too. Bacon is at the top of his game in a movie that really doesn’t deserve the dedication he brings to role but Bacon also helped bring this movie to the screen so it’s a passion project of his to be sure.

You can ultimately decide if this movie is for you or not based on its premise. It’s certainly great to see Chlumsky working again in a role that commands the viewer’s attention. They/Them has received mixed reactions and, perhaps, that is what the filmmakers were aiming for because, as is the case in life, everybody’s different. This movie will be groundbreaking for some and pure exploitation for others. For me, I was happy to see filmmakers taking big risks which is why we watch movies anyway. To see things we have never seen before. You certainly haven’t seen something exactly like They/Them before.

Rating: 6.5/10

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