Review | ‘Them: The Scare’ is deliciously MACABRE and harrowing

Spoiler-free review.

In 2021, the Prime Video launched the first season of the ambitious series ‘Them’ – a compilation of ten episodes of psychological horror that followed in the footsteps of Jordan Peele to bring racial issues to the scene mainstream and use them as a basis for the genre in question. In a short time, the popularity of the production proved to be a double-edged sword, being criticized, without any grounds, by numerous sectors of society: on the one hand, traditionalist conservatives stated that the narrative pointed to white people as impassive and hideous villains (something that , in the mid-1950s, was not far from the truth); on the other, journalists and critics said that the plot valued a “black trauma porn” by placing black characters in situations of pure contempt and graphic violence (when, in fact, it only portrayed what was happening to them at the time).

In any case, we imagined that the platform streaming had already finished the narrative in question, considering the long time that no update on a possible second cycle had been given to us. Such was our surprise when, at the beginning of the year, Prime Video revealed that it was preparing to launch the second season of a recently signed anthology. Loading title ‘Them: The Scare’the plot invited us to a time jump of almost four decades, taking us to the beginning of the 1990s and presenting a totally new story – but one that is driven by glaring similarities with the original idea of Little Marvin and its team of producers.

The unprecedented cycle, composed of eight episodes of pure scenographic shock and constant and surprising twists, seems to have justified the idea of ​​the predecessor iteration – taking philosophical elements coined in the transition from the 20th to the 21st century to prove that the racial issue and the continuous suffering of the black population is endless, no matter how many years pass. In a frighteningly analogous way, the obstacles faced are almost anachronistic, repeated in an endless cycle that serves as a critical basis for us to understand an endless struggle for respect and the same rights (and this is where the controversial and absurd beauty of the series emerges, in special for this new season).

Here, we follow Detective Dawn Reeve (Deborah Ayorinde), who works for the Los Angeles Police Department in the homicide section and is tasked with investigating a brutal murder alongside his partner, Ronald McKinney (Jeremy Bobb). As she begins her investigations, she discovers that she may be dealing with something much bigger than she imagined, involving a dangerous supernatural force that is tied to history itself – and to the mysterious Edmund Gaines (luke james), protagonist of the other main plot that unfolds through the episodes. The result of this vibrant architecture is very positive, with the exception of some specific problems, showing that Marvin and his creative team still had a lot to tell us within this harrowing horror universe.

Moving away from the familiar psychological suspense of the previous chapters and betting on numerous references to the thrillers police officers who have always been part of the entertainment scene – such as ‘Chinatown’, ‘Se7en’ It is ‘Sin City’ – Marvin shows that he is willing to dare with breathtaking artistic advances that match the time in which the plot takes place (including the use of cross-fades and considerable support in lights neon and palliative tones of warm colors to prepare us for what will happen). Of course, certain choices are too obvious, like the tiring yellowish filter that takes over Los Angeles, but most of the techniques used work and help build an atmosphere of pure despair.

Within the microcosm, it is Ayorinde who steals the show every time he appears. The actress had already received countless ovations for her work as Lucky Emory in the first season – but it is in this new compilation of episodes that she makes room for applaudable versatility when playing Dawn. Suffering from traumas from a not-too-distant past that she repressed over the years and suffering countless passive-aggressive abuse from her colleagues at the police station, she is forced to impose her skills as a police officer as she deals with structural racism that haunts her day in and day out. after day and with the crooked looks of her peers who judge her as a traitor and as a “sell-out” to the rotten justice system in the United States.

In addition to the actress, names like Pam Grieran icon of blaxploitation from the 1970s and 1980s, she returns to active duty as Athena, Reeve’s mother, in a spectacular rendition; James navigates between madness and sanity in a performance ravishing and devilishly delicious that leaves us petrified from start to finish; Bobb is a tour-de-force villainous and hateful that comes close to the character delineation of Alison Pill in the debut cycle, Betty Wendell; and the newbie Joshua J. Williamsdespite not having much prominence at first, stands as a fundamental piece for us to understand the twists of the closing episodes as Kel, Dawn’s son.

‘Them: The Scare’ is a solid and welcome addition to this anthology universe that, unexpectedly, joins the first iteration in a celebration of the best in psychological suspense and horror. Explicit, bloody and chilling, the new season is a rewarding surprise from Prime Video and one of the best-structured forays of the year.