A new Netflix film does something that’s uncommon in horror: queer characters survive to the end.
Certainly, queer-coded characters sometimes survive these films, but it’s rare for explicitly LGBTQ characters to make it to the end – especially in slashers, a subgenre that has been the cruellest to marginalised people.
As a lover of slashers, I still have a complicated relationship with them.
(Spoilers ahead.)
There’s Someone Inside Your House, based on the novel by Stephanie Perkins, has quite a few flaws and is much different from what the trailers presented.
More interesting than the queer characters surviving this film is that at least one of the actors is also part of our community.
Jesse LaTourette plays Darby, a genderfluid character who is close to main character Makani (Sydney Park).
The other queer character is Caleb (Burkely Duffield), a gay football player who suffers a violent hazing from his fellow team members.
This film also manages to present us not solely with campy queer characters.
Are Darby and Caleb as individuals the most exciting?
Not really, but often queer people in horror are written as campy and not taken seriously by the killers or other characters.
Darby is just crossing their fingers about a NASA fellowship, and Caleb just wants to play football.
I believe that Darby is overall a better character than Caleb.
Considering that Darby is part of the main friend group, it only makes sense for them to be more fleshed out as a character.
One thing that comes across as weird, and almost detrimental to him as a character, is that Caleb isn’t angry like he should be.
The hazing ritual he goes through, very much a display of violent homophobia, isn’t a minor incident.
Despite its Scream and Friday the 13th influences, There’s Someone Inside Your House isn’t the perfect slasher.
It could have been more queer and toned down the hetero romance, which was focused on a lot and I could have done without.
I’m still giving it points for not killing off either queer character and for avoiding stereotypical writing for them.
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