- For the films of the same name, see Them (film) or Them!.
| Them | |
|---|---|
 Original French poster for Them |
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| Directed by | David Moreau Xavier Palud |
| Produced by | Richard Grandpierre |
| Written by | David Moreau Xavier Palud |
| Starring | Olivia Bonamy Michaël Cohen |
| Music by | René-Marc Bini |
| Cinematography | Axel Cosnefroy |
| Editing by | Nicolas Sarkissian |
| Release date(s) |  July 19, 2006 August 17, 2007 |
| Running time | 74 min. |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Official website | |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Them (French: Ils) is a French Horror film released in 2006, directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud. Olivia Bonamy plays Clementine, a beautiful young teacher, who has recently moved from France to a remote but idyllic country house near Bucharest, Romania with her lover Lucas, played by Michael Cohen.
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Synopsis
A couple who have recently moved from France to a rural part of Romania are awakened in the middle of the night by a series of disturbing noises. Lucas goes to investigate outside, and witnesses their car being stolen. Attempts to report the crime to the local police are unsuccessful, and soon the couple realize that the mysterious figures have returned, and are attempting to enter the house.
Detailed Outline
Reputedly based on real events, the film opens with a mother and daughter driving along a deserted country road at night. After an argument the mother loses control of the car and crashes into a wooden post. She gets out to check for damage under the hood, while her daughter waits in the car. After a period of silence the daughter calls to her mother. Receiving no reply, she gets out. Her mother is gone. Scared, she gets back into the car. Suddenly, noises come from the woods around her and bags of mud are thrown against the windows. The young girl tries desperately to contact the police using a cell phone, but she is strangled to death from behind. The next day, Clementine, driving home from work, passes the crashed car, unaware of the previous night's events. She is greeted at home by her writer partner, Lucas. The two settle in for the night, enjoying dinner and watching television. As the two prepare for bed, they hear sounds from downstairs. Lucas goes down to investigate. He finds the TV back on. After a series of strange phone calls, he is suddenly attacked and stabbed in the leg. Frantically, he escapes back up to Clementine in the bedroom above, and the two lock the door and try to formulate an escape plan. Clementine tries to escape through the attic, and kills one of the intruders. The couple find themselves surrounded and make a desperate attempt to escape the house. The pair succeed in escaping and manage to limp out into the surrounding woodland. They soon find they are being followed, and hide in some undergrowth as the invaders run past. They head deeper into the woods, only to encounter a fence. Due to his injury, Lucas cannot climb. So he waits behind, hiding in the bushes as Clementine heads for help. However, Clementine finds herself surrounded, her only escape route, her stolen car she comes across. Inside she tries to start the car to no avail, as the attackers close in. Lucas limps from the bushes upon hearing Clementine's screams, and finds the car crashed into a tree. He kills one of the attackers and finds an uncovered manhole. In the sewers, he finds Clementine being tortured by a teenage boy. Sneaking up behind him, Lucas kills him. With the help of a younger boy, the two escape through the back alleys of the sewer system. However as the attackers catch up on them, the boy turns on them, causing Lucas to fall as they try to escape up a ladder. Clementine watches in horror as her partner is dragged away screaming. The little boy turns to Clementine and asks, "Why won't you play with us?" and begins chasing her through the remaining corridors to the surface. Clementine eventually finds a gridded sewer entrance leading out onto a highway, but the grid is locked, and she is dragged off to the same terrible fate as Lucas. The film ends with shots of the countryside and a group of hooded school children running for a school bus. Just before the credits roll, it is revealed through text that the bodies of Clementine and Lucas were found five days after the events of the movie, and that the intruders were children aged 10-15, looking for people "to play with."
Reception
The film has been well received internationally, and, as of August, 2007, has an 83% (fresh) rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Jonathan Trout of the BBC calling it "77 minutes of gloriously maintained tension". It is claimed at the start that the film is based on a true story; however there has been little evidence to support this.
