'Them' is a weak attempt at Black horror

• 'Them' follows a Black family who leaves the Jim Crow South during The Great Migration.
• Amazon's new horror anthology features excellent music.
• Unfortunately, the show is a dud.

After a hyper-stylized dream sequence that serves as a prologue, Amazon's new horror anthology series "Them" opens tight on Lucky Emory (Deborah Ayorinde) in the passenger seat of a small car next to her husband, Henry (Ashley Thomas). They're joined by their two daughters, Rubie and Gracie (Shahadi Wright Joseph and Melody Hurd), sitting in the back with all their belongings strapped to the roof.

The year is 1953 and the Emory family is making The Great Migration from the Jim Crow South to Los Angeles in search of less violence, less racism, and more opportunities. The family settles down in Compton, which at that time was a middle-class, all-white enclave riddled with the same violent racism as the deep south, albeit hidden within the lines of discriminatory legislation.

But as the first episode pushes on, it becomes clear the Emory family has far more to worry about than racist neighbors or unruly cops. As they pull up to their new home for the first time, the screen turns red and is slowly replaced by the caption: "The following occurred over 10 days in the family's new home at 3011 Palmer Drive."

Supernatural madness promptly ensues.

What's Hot: The show's music

The music in "Them" is fantastic.

Episode one ends with Nina Simone. Episode two opens with Minnie Riperton. And both are nicely complemented by a bold horror score created by Mark Korven, who most recently provided the music for Robert Eggers's wild psychological horror "The Lighthouse."

This might sound like a trivial note to make so prominently within a review, but there is nothing more jarring - particularly during a dark horror production, which relies on the active participation of the viewer - than bad music. Bad sound overall is perhaps the most egregious of all the filmmaking sins, in my view.

What's Not: The show's two main characters

After the first official trailer for "Them" was released, the show's creators received widespread backlash on social media from people who compared the show's premise to HBO's recent hit "Lovecraft Country" and the work of Oscar-winning filmmaker Jordan Peele.

The similarities in theme and presentation are clear. The trailer for "Them" was cut in a similar pulpy fashion to Peele's second feature "Us" - an evocation that was probably deliberate on the part of Amazon Studios' marketing team. And "Lovecraft Country" is quite literally an anthology show about Black people fighting the horrors of Jim Crow America.

But it would be unfair to disregard "Them" as a work of plagiarism. One could claim stylistic fatigue, yes. It is quite draining to see the violence of white supremacy - which continues to shape our lives - repeatedly repackaged as cheap entertainment. But "Them" does feel like a genuine attempt by a writer to work through the horrors of America's history.

Unfortunately, the show is a dud.

Beyond the dry dialogue and odd direction, the blame largely lies with the casting of the show's two main actors: Deborah Ayorinde and Ashley Thomas, who are both British. (If you're familiar with British rap music you'll recognize Thomas as the grime artist Bashy.)

For some time now, there have been calls for Black British actors, who are beginning to find great success in Hollywood, to refrain from playing Black American roles. The argument is two-fold: a fear that Hollywood is using Black British actors to disenfranchise Black American actors, and that Black British actors do not have the ability to connect emotionally to the specific traumas of Black American life.

I usually disagree with these sentiments because, before anything else, cinema is an art form, and telling a director which actors they can and can't use is like telling a visual artist what kind of paint they can use. And besides, great art makes a hash of all doctrine.

A recent example is Black Brit Daniel Kaluuya, who rose to international prominence with his starring role in Peele's "Get Out," and recently won a Golden Globe for his role as Chairman Fred Hampton in "Judas and The Black Messiah." Kaluuya was also recognized with an Oscar nomination for it.

But "Them" isn't great art. Ayorinde's and Thomas' portrayals feel like surface-level, pantomime fodder.

It's not just that their accents often drift out of focus, and neither is short of enthusiasm. There just doesn't seem to be any soul beneath their performances. This isn't helped by the fact their main antagonist Betty Wendell (Alison Pill), who plays the racist Karen next-door, opts for a restrained, "Stepford Wives"-style of performance. As a result, big, thunderous set-pieces unfold and wash right over the viewer's head.

That said, the casting isn't weak all-around. The show's two child actors, Shahadi Wright Joseph, best known for her breakthrough role in Peele's "Us," and Melody Hurd, are excellent and make the best of poor dialogue.

Bottom Line: 'Them' isn't worth the watch

"Them" was created by writer Little Marvin ("The Time is Now") and executive produced by writer-actor Lena Waithe. It is unclear how much involvement Waithe had in the show's creative direction; she isn't credited as a screenwriter or director. But the show does unfold in a similar fashion to a lot of her previous work - namely "Queen and Slim," insofar as that the dialogue rings awkwardly as if written by someone who is only tangential to the portrayed experience, which is odd since Waithe is a Black writer from Chicago.

But with this in mind, I think back to an interview film director Steve McQueen gave to Esquire late last year after the release of his own anthology series "Small Axe." When asked about Hollywood's push for diversity, McQueen said we will know there has been a real change when more "crappy" Black films are made.

With productions like "Them" and "Queen and Slim," are we finally reaching a substantial turn? Can we now move beyond asking film and TV studios how many underrepresented creators they are hiring and instead focus on the quality of their work? Hopefully.

Grade: C-

Amazon Prime Video's "Them" premieres on April 9.