Kevin Bacon conversion therapy camp horror film They/Them gets chilling first look

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Peacock has dropped first-look images of conversion therapy camp horror movie They/Them.

With Kevin Bacon starring the first-look images are giving cult classic in the making – for better or worse.

Bacon, who is already a horror icon due to his role in Friday the 13th, will play camp counsellor Owen Whistler in They/Them (pronounced they slash them), alongside Carrie Preston (True Blood), who will play his wife, Cora.

The cast also includes Anna Chlumsky (Inventing Anna), Theo Germaine (The Politician), Quei Tann (How To Get Away With Murder), Austin Crute (Booksmart), Monique Kim (Look That Kill), Anna Lore (Faking It), Cooper Koch (Power: Book II) and Darwin del Fabro (Dangerous Liaisons).

They/Them will explore the terrors of conversion therapy ‘They/Them’ Photo: Josh Stringer/Blumhouse/Peacock googletag.cmd.push(function () { deployads.push(function() { deployads.gpt.display("Video_Unit_1x1"); deployads.gpt.pubadsRefresh([Video_Unit_1x1]); }); });

The Peacock film will explore the horrors of LGBT+ conversion therapy camps, the extreme methods the counsellors go to, and will see the campers fight to protect themselves from an axe murderer.

Screenwriter John Logan, the brains behind Penny Dreadful, lends his expertise in the horror genre to They/Them, in his directorial debut.

Logan said in a statement at NBC: “They/Them has been germinating within me my whole life. I’ve loved horror movies as long as I can remember, I think because monsters represent ‘the other’ and as gay kid I felt a powerful sense of kinship with those characters who were different, outlawed, or forbidden.”

The queer campers band together once they realise a killer is on they loose Photo: Josh Stringer/Blumhouse/Peacock var unruly = window.unruly || {}; unruly.native = unruly.native || {}; unruly.native.siteId = 1068722; They/Them will stream on Peacock. Photo: Josh Stringer/Blumhouse/Peacock The cast of They/Them boasts talent and diversity Photo: Josh Stringer/Blumhouse/Peacock

He added: “I wanted to make a movie that celebrates queerness, with characters that I never saw when I was growing up. When people walk away from the movie, I hope they’re going to remember the incredible love that these kids have for each other and how that love needs to be protected and celebrated.”

The film was originally set to be called Camp Whistler. Some fans approved of the rebrand, thought others were scepetical.

they SLASH them… THE TITLE EATS https://t.co/1LvVz9FUu0

— zae | son of apollo (@itszaeok) May 12, 2022

Was only a matter of time before Hollywood started cashing in on the pronoun game.
Eh, I'm not going to pretend I care either way. I'll watch just about any slasher flick, good or bad.

— Leo (@WitleyChip) May 12, 2022

Val Boreland, an executive vice president at NBCUniversal, which owns Peacock, said: “The film is not only entertaining and thrilling, but also empowers its audience with its message of acceptance in a way that only a creator like John Logan could imagine and then bring to life.”

As Boreland said, the film isn’t simply about “entertainment”.

Conversion therapy is a harmful practice which is carried out in the US, UK and all over the world.

It has been banned in 16 countries including Brazil, Canada and Germany, with Greece introducing its own ban on Thursday (12 May).

They/Them looks like a aptly horrific take on the topic, and if the cast and first look images are anything to go by audiences will be in for a wild ride, albeit unsettling ride on August 5.