#An Amazon Anthology Series About Terror in America – /Film

In Them, a Black family moves into an all-white Los Angeles neighborhood in the 1950s, and you can probably guess that the move doesn’t go smoothly. Not only will the family have to deal with racist neighbors, but it looks like something supernatural is lurking about as well. The new horror anthology series (or terror anthology series, as they’re officially calling it) is headed to Amazon in April, and you can watch an incredibly creepy trailer below.

Them Trailer

Created by Little Marvin and executive produced by Lena Waithe, Miri Yoon and Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment, David Matthews, and Don Kurt, Them is described as “a limited anthology series that explores terror in America,” with the following synopsis:

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.

The cast includes Deborah Ayorinde, Ashley Thomas, Alison Pill, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Melody Hurd, and Ryan Kwanten. This is a very effective trailer, although a part of me wants to grumble about everyone calling this a terror anthology series instead of a horror anthology series, as if horror – a massively popular genre – is somehow a dirty word. That aside, the way this trailer is cut – giving us enough info on what’s going on without really giving anything away – works exceedingly well, and I’ve gone from not even being aware of this show to wanting to see it immediately.

“What terrifies you more? The sound down in the basement or a neighbor who has been constantly staring at your house?” series creator Little Marvin said during an event to launch the trailer. “In my experience, it’s that neighbor. The terror here roots the horrors in something deeply human.” Marvin added:

“Nothing is a more quintessential part of the American dream than home ownership. It’s a point of pride for Black folks to create and pass down intergenerational wealth. For this family, it has been anything but a dream. It’s been a nightmare, and I wanted to peel back the floorboards to interrogate that.”

I’m very curious about Them, and I’m curious to see where future seasons go with the anthology format and this premise of exploring the horrors lurking in American society.

Them premieres on Amazon Prime Video on April 9.

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