Film Review – Him

September 22nd, 2025 | POSTED BY Allen Almachar

Him (2025) is all over the place yet seemingly doesn’t go anywhere. It tries to blend the sports and horror genre but sadly comes up short in both arenas. There are many elements that we are familiar with in terms of a sports drama. Athletes sacrificing their minds, bodies, and souls for greatness is not a new concept. Melding these themes with bizarre and horrific imagery does not do the material any favors. In fact, drawing the parallels between sports and body horror is so on the nose that it takes away from the narrative’s effectiveness. That’s not to say these issues shouldn’t be explored, but the way they are presented here is surface level at best. The film’s shortcomings are not due to its ideas, but in its execution.

Director Justin Tipping (who cowrites with Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie) structures the story with several conflicting elements. We meet Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers), a promising football quarterback that many scouts have proclaimed the next big thing. But before Cameron gets drafted, he suffers a traumatic brain injury that leaves many to wonder whether he is in the right headspace to lead a team. Cameron has a deep desire to be the best – bolstered by the sacrifices of his parents as well as the accomplishments of his idol, Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans). When Isaiah invites Cameron to his complex to train, Cameron jumps on the opportunity. But his increasingly unstable behavior and dark, malignant thoughts puts everything he has worked for at risk.

Right off the bat, we see the writing and directing trying to accomplish two different goals. On one hand, Him wants to be the story of a star athlete whose obsession to be the Greatest Of All Time (aka “The GOAT”) pushes them to commit masochistic acts. Yet on the flipside, it wants to be a satire of sports culture, particularly when it comes to athletes succumbing to traumatic injuries such as CTE. Cameron is haunted by ghostly monsters (possibly demonic mascots?), to the point that it is even suggested that one of these beings caused his head injury. So, which one is it? Is Cade’s erratic behavior due to his willingness to cross the line and become great? Or is his mental health compromised, causing him to act recklessly and experience otherworldly visions? Is it both? Is it neither? The narrative is unclear about this point. As things progress and scenes become more abstract, the thematic thread connecting everything together dissolves. We’re left with strong images but not much substance underneath.

Marlon Wayans is a talented actor who – when given the right part – can showcase a skillset that encompasses both comedy and drama. Many would point to his work in Above the Rim (1994) or Requiem for a Dream (2000) as examples of him tapping into characters separate from his usual comedic roles. He takes a much darker turn as Isaiah White in Him, but the writing does not give him a lot to work with. Isaiah is a veteran QB, a champion who has been heralded as one of the greatest to play football (if not THE greatest). But father time waits for no one, and now Isaiah is put in a strange position where he still desires his status but is willing to help the next generation see their potential. His process in tutoring Cameron is nothing short of sadistic – filled with mind games, ruthless practice drills, and monologue after monologue about how football should be above everything. Isaiah is a caricature – he is J.K. Simmons’ character in Whiplash (2014) on steroids. His relationship with his wife Elsie (Julia Fox) is non-existent – they barely share any screentime together. The method to his madness is undefined, he exists simply to torment and abuse Cameron.

Tipping’s direction incorporates a flashy, highly charged visual aesthetic. Along with cinematographer Kira Kelly and editor Taylor Joy Mason, Tipping attempts to put us inside Cameron’s mind as he goes through his physical and psychological ordeal. Some of these are direct, such as when we see his point of view from inside his helmet during drills. Other times, Tipping takes more extreme measures, such as changing into an x-ray vision aesthetic so we can see how every hit affects a person’s brain or bones. One of the more effective stylistic choices is the look of Isaiah’s compound. With its labyrinthine hallways, eccentric corners, and hyperbaric chambers, the entire place looks like something out of a sci-fi film. However, when Tipping tries to connect the visuals with the overall themes, that’s when things fall apart. The problem is the connections are too obvious – such as showing the statue of a goat as a representation of Cameron being “The GOAT,” or placing him as a Christ-like figure with blood all over his body. The narrative doesn’t translate its messaging with insight or precision, but like a jackhammer into our skulls.

Him is designed to shock and provoke but ends up leaving us confused and bewildered. It has the tone and weight of something meaningful, but we come out of it with no new revelations about its subject matter. It presents this nightmarish world that is thin and uninteresting. Whatever possibilities there are go wasted. For example, when Cameron arrives at Isaiah’s facility, he passes by several passionate fans. These fans are dressed up like feral beasts – giving the impression that they are unhinged and dangerous. What is this meant to say? That fans are simply animals that worship at the feet of their heroes? That they have no minds of their own, or that they live only to see their favorite stars win the big game? Once again, we have imagery that could lead to more substantial conversations about this universe, but it is lightly touched upon and then completely forgotten about.           

There are so many other, better movies that explore the dark side of sports that it’s not worth going over them all in this review. Him tries to put a new twist on this story, but just because it takes a different approach doesn’t automatically make it good. While I admire the attempt, the final product does not leave much of a lasting impact. It has a lot of bravado, and it flexes its cinematic muscles all over the screen, but when we look underneath the veneer, we don’t find much bubbling inside. 

Above the Rim, him, J.K. Simmons, Julia Fox, Justin Tipping, Kira Kelly, Marlon Wayans, Requiem for a Dream, Skip Bronkie, Taylor Joy Mason, Tyriq Withers, Whiplash, Zack Akers