Justin Tipping’s “Him” follows rising quarterback Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers) following an attack by an obsessive fan. Offered the chance of his lifetime, Cameron joins his idol, Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), at an isolated training compound to prove his talent, only to realize that nothing there is as it seems. Produced by Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions, the film continues in the studio’s tradition of horror with a moral under current. However, “Him” doesn’t quite live up to its predecessors: The allegory is somehow both too on the nose and frustratingly muddled amid the chaos of the movie.
There is a very clear, almost too clear, message about the dangers of Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and its devastating effects on football players. Cameron suffers a head injury early on, and the film repeatedly cuts to X-ray imagery during player collisions, as if to make sure we don’t miss the point. Given the ongoing debates around helmet safety and the growing number of players struggling with CTE and consequently displaying increased violence, this should be a compelling and timely theme. Instead, it feels heavy-handed, as though Tipping didn’t trust us to grasp the message without an excess of brain-scan imagery.
Ironically, the film’s more compelling threads, warnings of drug dependence in sports and the toxic culture of fan worship, end up drowned out. The movie hints at the dangers of athletes being turned into idols, as fans project impossible expectations onto players and treat them as near-divine figures. This tied neatly into the Christ imagery plastered across the marketing and throughout the film, with the primary poster for the film featuring a bloodied Withers in cruciform pose, but these themes flicker only briefly before getting lost in the chaos, leaving the film’s sharper insights buried under its bluntest moments.
On a technical level, “Him” delivers. The music is phenomenal, genuinely amplifying the scare factor. The union of cinematography and soundtrack had me covering my eyes and ears in anticipation of the next jump scare. In fact, I probably spent the majority of the movie watching through my fingers, but I am historically bad at handling jump scares, so this says more about me than the frightfulness of the film itself.
My biggest qualm with the film is its dialogue, which was, frankly, corny. For a horror movie trying to serve as an allegory about the dangers of football, I was expecting a lot more depth. Instead many lines were reminiscent of a group of twelve-year-old boys trying to seem cooler than they are. The climactic scene features White menacingly claiming that he “is football,” which had me laughing out loud rather than sending shivers down my spine. However, given the adolescent quality of the dialogue, it is admirable how frighteningly believable the actors were able to deliver their lines.
The clear standout was Marlon Wayans as Isaiah White. He brings a magnetism to the role, making even the most stilted lines feel both genuine and unnervingly sinister. His transformation from disarmingly charming mentor to unhinged zealot is the best performance of the film. Newcomer Tyriq Withers as Cameron Cade also delivers a solid performance, though something feels incomplete. Julia Fox as Isaiah White’s wife, Mrs. White, leans into a familiar persona, somewhere between herself and a quite obvious parody of Gwyneth Paltrow featuring a jade buttplug. It works well enough, even if it doesn’t quite offer anything new.
The film is a clear representation of style over substance. However, the style is definitely good enough to make it worth watching. The cinematography is beautiful. Some scenes are definitely more comparable to a Nike commercial than a movie, while others are akin to Renaissance paintings, the most memorable being a recreation of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” with Cameron Cade as Jesus. Adding to the effectiveness of the cinematography is the set design. Tipping uses long, cavernous hallways and somber colors to heighten the tension while simultaneously leaving you awestruck at the opulence.
Despite its flaws, I ended up enjoying the film. It is far from perfect, with clunky dialogue and heavy-handed allegory, but the style, scares and performances (not to mention a very attractive cast) kept me hooked. “Him” is best appreciated for its striking imagery and atmosphere, though it definitely requires a strong stomach.
