Taking a look at They/Them (2022) through my POV as a non-binary horror fan.
***Contains Spoilers***
Overview
They/Them is a slasher film set at a gay conversion camp. Most of the campers are there because they are gay, but there’s also a few trans characters, such as the main character, Jordan (Theo Germaine), who is non-binary, and Angela (Quei Tann), a trans woman. Throughout the film, the camp counselors begin getting killed off by a masked slasher out for revenge (for those who haven’t seen it, I won’t reveal the identity of the killer here, but I will talk more later about their motivation).
Review
This movie has such a dismal score that I went in with low expectations. Honestly? I was pleasantly surprised. First of all, it was great to have a non-binary main character. I’ve never seen or read any stories before where the main character was non-binary, so it’s nice to finally feel represented. It certainly didn’t hurt that it happened to occur in my favorite genre either. I was a bit worried that a movie set at a gay conversion camp would overdo the LGBTQ+ stereotypes or be too heavy handed, but I actually found it to be pretty respectful, given that they, of course, had to address things like trans/homophobia, misgendering, stuff like that–it all made sense in context and felt reasonably realistic. Also, I appreciate that they cast actual non-binary/trans actors for the trans roles.
It throws you off a bit when camp runner Owen (Kevin Bacon) introduces the camp in a disconcertingly supportive way, even acknowledging Jordan’s transition and trying to work with them when they point out that separating the campers by gender leaves them displaced. As Jordan later comments, “…I would understand it a whole lot more if there was a lot more Bible-thumping and queer-bashing. But there’s not. That’s what scares me.” I concur. The true nature of the counselors starts shining through as they react much more harshly when Alexandra is revealed to be trans as well, plus the therapy session Jordan has with Cora (Carrie Preston) makes my skin crawl. As a non-binary person myself, I can attest that she hit on some of those key fears, which clearly had an impact on Jordan until Alexandra reassured them. Speaking of, I love the support Jordan and Alexandra share for each other throughout the whole movie.
There were a few things I did not expect going into the movie, since I knew nothing about it except the most baseline premise. For one thing, I thought the counselors would be the killers and the campers the victims. Instead, it’s the counselors who end up the targets of the slasher. This leads to my next surprise, which was the fact that this may be the only time I’ve ever actually kinda sorta sided with the slasher character. They were once a camper here and have now returned to try to bring down the slyly abusive staff who ruined their life. I mean, I get why they did what they did, and the counselors were certainly far from innocent victims.
I’m honestly torn about the ultimate message of the film. They spend all this time building up to how awful the counselors treat their campers, but when Jordan is given the choice to team up with the slasher to continue their stand against these types of people and places, they basically decide to just quietly go on about their life. Look, I’m not exactly jumping to take a violent stand against transphobes but… sometimes bigotry won’t go away without drastic step, so I don’t know that condemning the protest of these abusive, oppressive systems is the right move.
After finishing the movie, I was curious to see why everyone hated it so much, because I genuinely didn’t think it was as bad as all the hype. One of the main complaints I saw was that 95% of the deaths don’t happen until over an hour into the movie. I did notice this at the time, but it didn’t really bother me. It’s not like the first hour was wasted–it gave them time to focus on the characters themselves and the struggles they faced in this scenario, even before knowing there was a killer among them. There were also some complaints about the dance scene in the middle, but I thought it was oddly charming. It’s not the sort of scene I would expect from a horror movie, but I found it to be a sweet moment for these teens in the midst of all the crap they were caught up in.
Overall, don’t judge this one by the IMDb score. It’s actually very engaging and supportive of the LGBTQ+ community, particularly in representing the often overlooked non-binary category.
Score
Overall 8/10
LGBTQ+ 9/10
Bonus LGBTQ+ Horror Film Mini-Review: Bit (2019)
First, let me just start off by raving about lead actress Nicole Maines for a second. As with They/Them, I checked to see if the trans characters were played by trans actors. When I looked up Maines, I found out that she was the plaintiff in the first court case where the state court decided it was unlawful to bar trans students from using the school bathroom of their gender identity. She’s also the first trans superhero on TV, showing up in Supergirl as Nia Nal. You go, girl!
There are a few interesting aspects about Bit. For one thing, they never explicitly spell out the fact that Maines’ Laurel is trans, though there’s plenty of implication making it clear throughout the film. And I don’t mean that they were avoiding the topic or anything like that. Rather, it was deliberate, but clearly not the focus of the movie. She just was her, and that was really cool to see. There’s an added layer that comes along with this dynamic in that in this particular setting, gender plays a huge role in who is and gets to become a vampire. The leader of the clan, Duke (Diana Hopper) was mind controlled for years by the original vampire, Vlad (Greg Hill), so once he was defeated a while back, she decided that men should never again be allowed to be turned into vampires. Even with that in mind, she has zero hesitation about turning Laurel and welcoming her into their crew, implying she truly views her as 100% woman.
Having said all that, I must lament that the dialogue and acting are a bit jilted throughout. Honestly, this was the quality level I expected from They/Them, so it’s interesting that They/Them is actually the higher quality of the two. Still, the actual points, themes, and characters are worth looking past a lot of that. It’s not a perfect movie, but it is enjoyable and intriguing.
Score for Bit (2019)
Overall 7/10
LGBTQ+ 8/10