Them

Beginning of 1950s, America, the land of the free. Livia and Henry eagerly leave their home in North Carolina, still subdued by racist sentiment, and head northwest to the decidedly more open and progressive California. They have already bought a beautiful suburban house and now intend to settle there with their two lovely young daughters who deserve to grow up in a world devoid of prejudice. The trouble is, they feel unwelcomed the minute they arrive in the neighbourhood that was to become their asylum. The reason is, it is all white, and what’s more – the residents clearly stipulated in the sales agreement that “no persons of Negro blood or heritage will occupy the premises.” The sales agent insists these are just words, and that they can be easily erased. She is right, though it is far more difficult to change the habits of the people who were brought up with a particular vision of the world in their heads. Livia thus spends her first night in this “brave new world” loading bullets into her gun. She does not realize, however, that it is not the neighbours she should be afraid of – there is also something wrong with the house itself.