‘They/Them’: Slasher stalks LGBTQ teens at a ‘conversion’ camp in Peacock’s twisty horror movie

The prolific and versatile John Logan wrote numerous acclaimed performs in Chicago together with the real-life crime dramas “By no means the Sinner” and “Hauptmann” earlier than turning to Hollywood and creating among the most memorable screenplays of the final 20 years, writing or co-writing “Gladiator,” “The Final Samurai,” “The Aviator” and “Hugo,” in addition to the James Bond motion pictures “Skyfall” and “Spectre.”

On the age of 60, Logan makes his characteristic directorial debut with the Blumhouse horror film “They/Them,” and that’s pronounced “They-Slash-Them,” as that is an uneven however intriguing and thought-provoking mashup of “homosexual conversion camp” movies comparable to “However I’m a Cheerleader” and “The Miseducation of Cameron Put up,” and cabin-in-the-woods slasher movies comparable to “Friday the thirteenth” and, nicely, “The Cabin within the Woods.”

Author-director Logan’s social commentary darts don’t all the time hit the bullseye, and there are occasions when it feels as if “They/Them” has virtually forgotten it’s a horror movie, however that is an eminently watchable movie with some nifty twists and turns, and advantageous performances from a solid of dependable veterans and promising newcomers. There’s one thing refreshing about this large inventive swing, which champions inclusivity in frank and humorous and typically candy style—after which delivers a ugly little bit of nastiness.

After a jarring prologue involving a girl driving alone, a flat tire, a deer and a masked man with a hatchet, “They/Them” opens in traditional slasher film style, with a gaggle of younger individuals arriving at Whistler Camp, which has the slogan, “RESPECT RENEW REJOICE.” However these aren’t a bunch of attractive, dimwit, hard-partying mates—they’re all strangers whose mother and father have despatched them to this conversion remedy retreat within the distant woods.

The camp is run by Kevin Bacon’s disarmingly pleasant and seemingly tolerant Owen Whistler, who seems and talks like the best hippie uncle you may ever hope to have. As a substitute of greeting the campers with Bible quotes and militaristic instructions, Owen actually opens his arms and says, “I can’t make you straight. I don’t need to make you straight. Homosexual persons are A-OK with me. In the event you’re comfortable the best way you might be, then extra energy to you. … And let me inform you one other factor. God doesn’t hate you, both. And any son of a bitch that tells you in any other case is a bigoted a——, and that’s formally the final time that you simply’re going to listen to in regards to the man upstairs.”

The way in which Bacon spins these traces, smiling warmly and searching all good-looking and reliable together with his lengthy hair and his leather-based bracelets, it’s virtually MORE chilling than if Owen had come on the friends with fireplace and brimstone. We all know issues are going to get dicey and unusual and deeply unsettling.

Because the campers settle in, we get to know numerous them (whereas a half-dozen others by no means get talking traces and simply kind of linger within the background, to the purpose of distraction). The group consists of Jordan (Theo Germaine), a non-binary trans particular person whose pronouns are they/them; trans girl Alexandra (Quei Tann); the fashion-forward Toby (Austin Crute), who says he made a cope with his mother and father that if he spent every week on the camp, he might go see “Moulin Rouge” in New York; Veronica (Monique Kim), a bisexual who says she hates herself; Kim (Anna Lore), who comes from a small, conservative city and says it might damage her life if individuals realized she’s homosexual, and Stu (Cooper Koch), a college-bound jock who sits in judgment of his fellow campers and is making an attempt to disclaim he’s homosexual.

The younger actors are all fantastic, as their characters overcome their very own preconceived judgments about one another and in some circumstances discover friendship and even potential romance. In the meantime, Owen continues to play buddy and mentor to the campers, whereas his spouse (Carrie Preston) conducts remedy periods that appear to be extra about making the campers really feel horrible about themselves than selling therapeutic and self-discovery.

Then there’s the “previously homosexual” and macho athletics director, Zane (Boone Platt), and his fiancée, Sarah (Hayley Griffith), who appear to take an virtually sadistic pleasure in placing the campers via some rigorous, “gender normative” workouts. And what’s with the camp nurse, Molly (Anna Chlumsky)? What’s her deal?

“They/Them” begins to really feel like a horror movie even earlier than there’s any precise bloodshed, because it turns into more and more apparent Owen’s camp is something however “A-OK with homosexual individuals.”

As a director, Logan is aware of easy methods to put us via the horror style paces, from bounce scares and mysterious sounds within the woods, to the compulsory ugly kills. Repeatedly, although, we’re reminded that actual monster in “They/Them” is bigotry and intolerance.