Jay's Chatterbox: They/Them Movie Review

Welcome back, My fiendish friends! Today I will be doing yet another review but this one is a little special. It may be the first full horror movie review I've done on this site and it's one that's on a subject which is near and dear to my heart.

I'm gonna be talking about the Kevin Bacon movie “They/Them.”

I grew up a huge fan of Kevin Bacon and his brand of horror. Stir of Echoes is still a movie that sits in my brain as my first favorite horror movie. So I was excited about the idea of watching this one, even with the pun and the true to life horror of conversion camps.

But I'm gonna do a quick breakdown of it right here. These kids are sent off to a conversion camp, all of which are one of the letters in LGBTQ. Kevin Bacon plays the man who runs the camp who is less religious nutjob and more “guy who sits backwards in a chair to relate to the youth.” That is until the actual ickiness of conversion therapy starts.

Also there's a person in a mask running around the camp murdering people. It's a slasher film, after all. And this gives off serious Friday the 13th vibes.

While pretty much all the characters get a spotlight moment, the protagonist is definitely Jordan; a trans non-binary person who is not putting up with anyone's bullshit. They take on the “Final Person” role of the movie and are undeniably the most rounded character of the movie.

Overall, the movie was.... okay. It wasn't a scary movie that'll keep anyone up at night, but it is by no means the worst horror movie I've ever seen. It's a movie I can appreciate for what it is and what it's trying to do.

Could it have been done better? Absolutely.

The plot is great. The idea of exposing the true horror being just the existence of conversion therapy is gold. And the plot twist in the end was a nice touch. But... that's all I can really say about it.

It was well acted and well conceived. It was a good movie. It just wasn't winning any awards on the horror angle of things.

Still, I'm very glad this movie exists. I was talking to a friend not too long ago about the lack of non-binary representation in movies, so it's nice to see Jordan. They were a pleasure to witness and gave off the energy of a survivor character who was just kind of rolling their eyes at the antics of the killer.

It's nice and refreshing. But will Jordan be remembered? Only time will tell. This character could age like a fine wine or milk. It all depends on how other non-binary characters are as the media expands and gives way to it without putting them in as robots/god/other non-human creatures.

I'd watch the movie a second time only to see the little things I might have missed. And to see if the plot twist in the end makes sense. But that's all for now. I hope to see you again soon!

Fare Thee Well!