Since it was first announced last year, Blumhouse has just released several images of their newest project They/Them. Previously named Whistler Camp, the now titled They/Them (pronounced ‘They-slash-Them’) is the directorial debut of John Logan. While this is his first go at directing, Logan is no stranger to film as he’s best known for writing a plethora of hit movie scripts like Skyfall, Hugo, and Gladiator.
They/Them takes place at a conversion therapy camp named Whistler. The staff, led by Owen Whistler (Kevin Bacon), psychologically tortures the LGBTQIA+ teenagers in an attempt to convert them into cisgender and straight people through progressively more perturbing means. Their week-long session is only worsened by the sudden appearance of a mysterious killer, making the teens band together to protect each other from both the camp staff and the murderer. After its initial announcement in September, quick work has been made on this project as it’s set for an August 5 release on Peacock.
The first official images of Blumhouse’s They/Them were shared by Peacock. These images show the teenagers upon their arrival at Whistler Camp and Bacon’s Owen Whistler seemingly welcoming them before their torture begins. Opposite Bacon is Work in Progress actor Theo Germaine as Jordan, a non-binary camper who makes a deal with their religious parents to legally emancipate if the camp doesn’t ‘work’. The other campers are made up of Quei Tann, Anna Lore, Austin Crute, Monique Kim, Cooper Koch, and Darwin del Fabro, with Carrie Preston and Anna Chlumsky starring as part of the camp staff. Check out the images below:
Queer characters have been woven into horror for generations with queer coding as writers use traits to make a recognizably gay character without confirming it. While this has had positive uses like avoiding censorship, it often creates some unfortunate representation, like flamboyant villains and obsessive, violent lesbian stereotypes. Although some horror directors have been moving away from these stereotypes in recent years as they create more blatant and well-rounded LGBTQ+ representation like in the Fear Street trilogy.
Growing up as a gay kid who loved horror, Logan always felt a connection to monsters who were "othered" and with They/Them, the genre can fully examine queer identity without having to hide it. On top of navigating his first directorial gig, Logan also wrote They/Them, and his previous successful scripts give high hopes for this new film. It appears that Logan is striving to avoid misrepresentation as he focuses on the sense of unity felt within the LGBTQIA+ community and highlighting the horror that comes from the mistreatment of the They/Them characters rather than turning these characters themselves into the horror.
Source: Peacock