Kevin Bacon Is Back to Camp in First Trailer for LGBTQ Slasher Movie They/Them
Photos via PeacockWhen the title for Peacock’s LGBTQ horror film They/Them hit the web a few weeks ago, it sent pun-loving movie geeks into something of a tizzy, once the pronunciation of “They Slash Them” was understood. A neo-retro slasher movie, set at a summer camp, albeit one being used for controversial gay conversion therapy? And starring none other than Kevin Bacon, who was memorably offed in the original Friday the 13th way back in 1980? That’s some brilliant marketing and casting, right there. It remains to be seen if the film can live up to the satisfying nature of that title, but today we got our first glimpse of it via the trailer, which you can see below. The synopsis, meanwhile, is as follows:
When a group of LGBTQ+ campers arrives at Whistler Camp – a conversion camp run by Owen Whistler (Kevin Bacon) – they are promised a “new sense of freedom” by the end of the week. But as the counselors attempt to psychologically break down each of the campers, a mysterious killer starts claiming victims, and they must reclaim their power if they’re going to survive the horrors of the camp.
The teaser below gets a lot of mileage out of the “slash” visual motif, but to film geeks the most interesting thing about this film might actually be its writer-director, John Logan. This is the feature film directorial debut of Logan, but he’s far from a Hollywood neophyte. Rather, he’s the Academy Award-nominated screenwriter of everything from Ridley Scott’s Gladiator to Gore Verbinski’s Rango, with other screenwriting credits that include The Aviator, Hugo and the James Bond entry Skyfall. This is the guy who wanted to write and direct They/Them? Well that’s certainly interesting.
The film’s ensemble cast includes Carrie Preston, Anna Chlumsky, Theo Germaine, Quei Tann, Anna Lore, Monique Kim, Darwin del Fabro, Cooper Koch, and Austin Crute, and it hits Peacock on Aug. 5, 2022. Check out the first teaser below.