Them

TV review by Marina Gordon, Common Sense Media
Them Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 16+

Controversial horror series about racism is a tough watch.

Amazon Prime Video Drama 2021
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Parents say

age 17+

Based on 2 reviews

Kids say

age 13+

Based on 6 reviews

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this TV show.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Them is a disturbing, violent limited series that blends the historical reality of racism in the 1950s with aspects of the horror genre. From its first moments, Them has an air of menace and dread that never lets up. As it goes on, viewers learn more about the traumas that drove the Emory family from North Carolina. We don't know exactly what happened to him until episode five, which shows a baby's sadistic death and his mother's sexual assault. The characters swear a lot (expect "f--k," "s--t," "motherf----r," "damn," and "pissed"). Many racist terms are uttered and seen, including the "N" word, "coloreds," "coons," and "crackers." As the series is set in the 1950s, the Black characters refer to themselves as "Negro." Also in keeping with the times, many of the adults smoke, almost continuously (including while pregnant).

Community Reviews

Empress Naja
Empress Naja Adult
April 16, 2021
age 18+

Stay woke people

I think while you are watching with your child. Allow them to ask questions , and have a open dialogue with what they have watched. My daughter and I watched it together. And we both had our perception about, in what we took from the series in itself.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
SophieParker101
SophieParker101 Adult
April 15, 2021
age 15+

One of the best series I've ever seen, but very mature.

Them is an anthology series based on a black family moving to an all-white neighbourhood in Los Angeles. As you can imagine this series is about racism, it is similar to Jordan Peeles' 'Us' and 'Get Out' but way more mature. It can be extremely hard to watch as it contains disturbing scenes and probably the most graphic and brutal depiciton of racism in cinema history. It also has some supernatural elements. About sexy stuff: **SPOILERS**: In episode five a graphic rape scene between a white man and a black woman, she is screaming in agony. Some sexual dialogue but not too much. A woman is seen in underwear but reveals too little. About gory stuff and violence: EXTREMELY brutal and gory. Lots of blood, scary stuff, some scary characters that appear in the series, a dog is seen dead and contorted. A woman sets 2 people on fire, a woman cooks his children (off-screen) but later the kitchen is seen full of blood. A man cuts his fingers, graphic. A black girl paints herself white to be 'beautiful', disturbing. A man bashes a womans head into a sink a lot of times and then smashes her into a door, she dies. A woman steps in a mans leg and breaks it, bone cracking sound. A man shoots a cop in the stomach. A group of cheerleaders are seen dancing but then they contort and twist and turn grey. About the language: Strong language throughout. The 'N word', F*cking, F*ck, P*ssy, Lots and lots of racial slurs Alcohol and smoking: Since the series is set in the 1950's, expect lots of smoking, some alcohol. About episode 5: *SPOILERS*: Episode 5 is about the story of the Emory's and what happened to baby chester. This episode made me sick and I could'nt sleep properly, this episode definetly is 16+ and it cpntains a warning before watching the episode. i would not recommend to continue reading this if you have suffered trauma, or had been abused. One of the most disturbing and sick scenes of the whole series was when Lucky was alone with baby chester in their North Carolina home, and we see the lady that asked her for the baby earlier in the series, she approaches the house with two men, they break in and lucky hides chester in a closet, then one of them starts graphically raping the mother (no nudity) but she is seen in pain and screaming, Then the lady fins the baby and wraps him in a white sheet and starts singing Old Black Joe and then starts smashing the baby in the floor, then tosses it to the two men and they toss the baby with various objects, I wish I would've skipped this sceneif I knew what was coming. Then they stop when the sheets turn red and blood is seen coming out of the sheet, then they flee the house. Definetly disturbing. Well, I guess I could say that was all, absolutely stunning performances byt the actors, great story, definetly 9.3/10

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

THEM opens with a scene of a remote house in North Carolina where a young Black mother (Deborah Ayorinde) and her baby boy, Chester, are enjoying the day when an older White woman approaches the house, sings a racist song, and asks if she can have the baby. Next we see mother, Livia "Lucky" Emory, with her husband Henry (Ashley Thomas) and two daughters driving to Southern California. Chester isn't with them. When they arrive at the house, in all-white Compton, their neighbors are alarmed that a Black family is moving onto the block, and Lucky is alarmed to see that the sale agreement contains a restrictive covenant barring the sale or rental of the home to "any persons whose blood is not entirely that of the Caucasian race," specifying that "no persons of Negro blood or heritage will occupy the premises." Though no longer legal, the language and history it represents are all too real for the Emory family, who face harassment and abuse from their neighbors (led by a formidable Betty played by Alison Pill). Henry says they won't be driven out ("no more running"); what exactly they're running from will be revealed over the course of the show. Meanwhile, evil is afoot in the Emorys' house: their beloved dog has been killed in the basement, the police treat the family as possible criminals, and a fictional character has attacked the younger daughter. How will this family survive their new life in sunny California?

Is It Any Good?

No, this isn't a companion piece to Jordan Peele's horror movie Us, which also centered on a Black family and featured Shahadi Wright Joseph as one of the children. The similarities end there, though. Them wraps a history lesson in the horror genre, and has none of the humor of Peele's work. Creator Little Marvin asks viewers to feel what it's like to be under constant scrutiny, to be seen with hatred, malice, and suspicion 24/7. Would you lash out, close ranks with friends and family, run? Over 10 episodes, viewers are plunged into the terror and violence of racism from the Emory family's perspective in Them, and it's unrelentingly, palpably painful. Particularly when Deborah Ayorinde as Lucky is faced with a menacing older woman or the gaggle of housewives in a then-white Compton, you can feel your pulse quicken. The power of conventional horror tropes (jump scares, weird supernatural occurrences) lose some impact in the context of the real horror of a Black family moving to a White city in the 1950s.

Discussion around redlining and covenants has increased in recent years, as the U.S. reckons with institutionalized racism, generational wealth, and who has had access to the foundation of the American Dream -- home ownership. But Marvin prompts viewers not to think only about the past; he was motivated to start writing Them by the daily alerts about Black people being suspected of crimes, beaten, and killed "just for living." He's faced intense criticism from within the Black community for the show's violence, especially the baby's death in episode five, and argues that the public has become numbed to stories of violence against Black people. Marvin told the L.A. Times, "We felt it was important not to hide from it, but to confront it, to address what it has been like for people to live in fear of their lives for something they have no control or power over."

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the violence in Them. Do the violent scenes help tell the story in an effective way? Is it shocking or thrilling? Does exposure to violent media desensitize kids to violence?

  • How many movies have you seen that portray an average/regular African American family? How did this one compare? Why is the family's ordinariness notable?

  • The Emory family is part of the Great Migration of Black people from the Jim Crow South to the North and West. What does this show tell you about that movement? Where could you find more information about it?

  • How do you think it would make you feel to be treated differently by all of your peers in school? What did you think of the way the people in the neighborhood reacted when the Emory family moved in?

TV Details

Our Editors Recommend

For kids who love provocative horror

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