'Them' Trailer: Amazon's Horror Anthology Series Is A Socially-Charged Suburban Nightmare

When a Black family moves into an all-white Los Angeles neighborhood in the 1950s, it's not hard to imagine the kind of horrors they face from their neighbors. But what if they face another horror from inside the house? That's the gist of Little Marvin's new "terror" anthology series for Amazon, Them. Watch the official Them trailer below.

Created by Little Marvin and executive produced by Marvin, Lena Waithe, Miri Yoon and Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment, David Matthews, and Don Kurt, Them is the 10-episode first part of a new "terror" anthology series that looks like it will tap into the socially-charged messaging of Jordan Peele's films, coupled with an even heavier supernatural approach.

That comparison holds water with those who got to see the first episodes of the Amazon series at this year's SXSW, like /Film's Jacob Hall, who wrote on Twitter, "I can imagine the pitch for Amazon's THEM: 'Jordan Peele meets James Wan, but as a glossy, expensive-looking horror anthology series.' The good news is that it's terrifying and extremely effective."

He added: "The haunted house stuff is very good (and yep, this is a modern horror project, so Javier Botet shows up), but it's the non-supernatural scenes, the sequences built around human terror, that sent me into panic attack mode. It's intense."

The haunted house stuff is very good (and yep, this is a modern horror project, so Javier Botet shows up), but it's the non-supernatural scenes, the sequences built around human terror, that sent me into panic attack mode. It's intense.

— Jacob Hall (@JacobSHall) March 19, 2021

I have to say I had reservations about Them upon hearing about it, because it seems to retread territory recently walked by Peele (and even includes Us co-star Shahadi Wright Joseph) and by the stellar Remi Weekes' refugee horror film His House, but the raves about the series from Jacob and many other critics have me sufficiently intrigued. The above trailer does a great job establishing the chilling suburban nightmare experienced by the central Black family, with big doses of gore and disturbing imagery that evokes racial violence like minstrelsy and hanging dolls.

Them stars Deborah Ayorinde, Ashley Thomas, Alison Pill, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Melody Hurd, and Ryan Kwanten.

Here is the synopsis for Them:

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.

Them premieres exclusively on Amazon Prime Video Friday, April 9, 2021.