You know the story. Nuclear weapons testing irradiates some animals (in this case, ants), turns them big, starts them on a path of widespread destruction. It’s all on the poster. What’s interesting about Them! is the quality of its filmmaking; it’s designed and shot (and budgeted) like your average B-feature, but the pacing is taut, the script is cohesive and the direction is genuinely inspired. Like Godzilla, it almost feels like a documentary, and the characters’ decisions feel natural and understandable. They react to giant ants the way you’d expect people in 1954 to react to giant ants, which in a creature-feature like this is incredibly refreshing.

But the second most interesting part is the story behind the plot; Them! predates Godzilla by a few months. And both were behind the first “atomic bomb wakes up a giant monster” movie: The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms from 1953. In the early post-Hiroshima days, we knew that nuclear radiation could cause mutations, sort of — the knowledge that genetic information was carried by DNA was less than a decade old — and a lot of imaginations combined the visceral, visual excitement of King Kong and the novel idea of mutation, and defaulted to “maybe they get real big?”

This screening is held in the Taylor Screening Room. At ticket purchase, you will be asked to select your reserved seat(s). Seating is limited; it is recommended to purchase tickets ahead of time.

VIEW the full 2026 “A Nightmare on Franklin Street” series lineup.