Catherine Ivesdal

This an introspective, respectful final chapter to this iconic horror series. The poor reviews really have me stumped because it feels as if we watched a completely different film. While watching it, I was so impressed by how perfectly they rounded everything off. The direction, the acting, the characters... it was all near perfect in my opinion. I hope as more people see the film the reviews turn upward because I am sick of Rotten Tomatos' (and general audience's) prejudice toward horror. Sometimes it feels like no matter how good a horror film is, the scores never reflect that. ***Spoiler: My only complaint is Dalton's line at the end about how forgetting doesn't work, we need to remember even the stuff that hurts, as that's essentially the thesis of the film. I felt the story had already communicated that, and we didn't necessarily need a character to verbalize it. However, a very forgivable blip in an otherwise extremely satisfying film.***

Slasher films' notoriously bad reputation usually keeps them from getting the recognition and respect the truly great ones deserve, and They/Them is definitely a victim of this. The characters were amazing-- they felt believable, and relatable, and the actors gave solid performances. The film touched on very relevant subjects without feeling preachy or "woke." They/Them is just as focused on telling a story about the horror of a killer running around a summer camp as it is focused on the horrors of conversion therapy camps. As a queer person, I felt the subject was treated very well and liked that there were more than just cis gay men or lesbian women in the film. There's a nonbinary character, three trans characters, a bisexual character. The extremely negative reviews for this are incredibly frustrating. I enjoyed Them/Them so much and hope people give it a chance so it can get the attention and love it deserves. You can tell the people behind it really cared and that can be rare to find in film.

All I wanted to know was why they were on the bus and the movie never provides this information. I honestly could have forgiven the fact it made very little sense if it just explained why they were on the bus. That was all I could think about throughout the film because it can be hard to care about the "how" of a story if you never know the "why."

Despite what many critics have said about the movie, it's actually a smart reworking of the original television series mixed with elements from "And Then There Were None" and other revenge-focused mysteries. The characters aren't necessarily the most developed, but they take a back-seat anyways to the mystery of what exactly is Fantasy Island. There are very clever moments of foreshadowing in the film that upon a first viewing one might not even notice, and there are other little details that barely get any attention but are extremely creative! All the hate the film got, I imagine, had so much to do with the fact that it was a remake of a television show not necessarily known for being a thriller. Remakes have a really bad rap even when some are particularly good, and this is truly one of them. It's original, funny, and clever in a way that many movies don't pull of quite right. Ignore the critics and go into the movie with an open-mind.