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The Great Migration refers to the movement of over 6 million African Americans from the rural Southern United States to more urban areas of the country during the early 20th century until about 1970. This was largely due to the poor economic conditions in the south, as well as the racial segregation and discrimination African Americans faced under Jim Crow laws at the time. The teaser puts together a fast-paced montage of frightening suburban images. It’s unclear as to what exactly is going on here, but it certainly brings to mind the work of renowned horror director Jordan Peele.
Peele’s directorial debut, Get Out, took the world by surprise when it premiered back in 2017. The film went on to garner high praise from audiences and critics alike, even winning Peele an Academy Award for best original screenplay, a rarity for horror films. Set in modern times, Get Out tells the story of a young African American man named Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) who goes to meet his white girlfriend’s parents and spend the weekend at their upscale country home. Although they seem friendly at first, it becomes clear that something more sinister is afoot. Over the course of the film, Chris discovers that the family has been kidnapping other African Americans and transplanting their minds into their victims.
When it was released, Get Out stood out amongst the horror genre for its overtly political and racial themes. Although horror as a genre has often been very political in the past, the genre had become much more focused on subjects like gore and ghosts in the years before Get Out was released. Peele followed this film up with another heavily political horror film Us, which saw Black Panther stars Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke as a married couple who face off against terrifying doppelgangers during their vacation. Us dealt more heavily with issues of class in America but was still released to high critical praise.
Peele’s films have sparked a trend of more racially and politically inclined horror, such as last year’s Antebellum and the HBO supernatural series Lovecraft Country. Now, it seems like THEM will follow in these footsteps, peeling back the layers of America’s history of racism and segregation. Lena Waithe and Little Marvin will serve as executive producers on the show. Waithe’s other TV credits include the Chicago-based crime series The Chi on Showcase. She also wrote the screenplay for the 2019 romantic crime film Queen & Slim, which starred Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith as lovers who are forced to go on the run after killing a police officer in self-defense.
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