# Them (2021)

> A TV-MA anthology horror series that uses supernatural dread to expose the terror of American racism.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/100070

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 18
- Episode runtime: 43 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: horror, drama, mystery
- Created by: Little Marvin
- Network: Prime Video
- Cast: Ashley Thomas, Deborah Ayorinde, Alison Pill, Melody Hurd, Ryan Kwanten, Pam Grier, Luke James, Joshua J. Williams
- TMDB rating: 7.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9064858/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: extreme
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: graphic
- Tone: bleak, paranoid, harrowing, dread-filled, brooding

## What critics say

Audiences broadly regard the series as a brutal, unflinching anthology horror that confronts American racism, with the first season rated markedly higher than the second.

## Synopsis

Them (2021-2024) is a US anthology horror series created by Little Marvin for Prime Video. Each season is a self-contained limited story rather than a continuing saga, and the first season follows Black family Henry Emory (Ashley Thomas) and his children, including Ruby Emory (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Gracie Emory (Melody Hurd), who move into a house in 1950s Compton, California, only to face a menacing presence and the hostility of white neighbors. Detective Dawn Reeve (Deborah Ayorinde) anchors the wider story across the run. The engine of the series is a family trying to hold onto their home while dread escalates, with each episode building unease through intimate domestic scenes and sudden violence. Its tone is bleak, paranoid and harrowing, with a slow burn pace that lets racism and fear feed each other. The series sits in the tradition of American social horror, where the frightening force is as much human bigotry as the supernatural. Fans of Lovecraft Country, American Horror Story and Watchmen will find resonance in its historical grounding, its anthology shape and its blend of genre dread with racial reckoning. Viewers should expect strong content throughout, with graphic brutality and disturbing imagery that make the series unsparing but purposeful.

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- [American Horror Story (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/1329)
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- [Masters of Horror (2005)](https://ember.film/tv/3300)
- [Fear Itself (2008)](https://ember.film/tv/6648)

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