Him (2025) Review!!

Synopsis – A promising young football player joins an isolated compound to train under a dynasty team’s aging quarterback.

My Take – As a producer Jordan Peele has built quite a brand for himself, particularly in the horror genre, with each new feature coming as a breath of fresh air. His latest too, a sports-related horror about an ambitious quarterback who faces an evil conspiracy while pursuing his dream of becoming the GOAT, promised the same.

But while Peele’s name-above-the-title status will likely draw viewers, it will also leave them baffled by his decision to support something that is simultaneously so incoherent and woefully generic, as the utter mess of a screenplay loses its way throughout its runtime.

Truly this Justin Tipping directed film is a frustrating experience to witness because the potential of a neat little horror film is clearly there as we see it see radiate off in certain moments, and the concept centered on the pressures of fame and pushing one’s body to the limit in the world of modern sports culture, has considerable potential, but the moment it attempts to explore the thematic elements of toxic masculinity or the toll that everything takes on athletes within these sports, it ends up getting squandered into extremely blunt territories.

And while there’s an inspired Marlon Wayans performance at the narrative’s center, director Tipping’s hyperactive, darkly surreal visuals and overactive montages prove less scary than chaotic, and ultimately annoying. Leaving us with a thematically shallow and weightless snooze fest. Not only does the story’s wasted potential make it just straight up bad, it also cements itself as one of the year’s most disappointing films, completely fumbling the ball close to touchdown.

The story follows Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers), a young up-and-coming rising football star, a generational college quarterback touted as an heir apparent to Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), San Antonio Savior’s quarterback legend. That is until he attacked by a ghoulish figure, leaving him with a cracked skull and a brain injury, leaving Cameron wondering if he’ll ever truly reach the status of the late greats.

But despite warnings from his doctor, Cade refuses to stop playing, determined to live up to his late father’s expectations. With his bloodsucking agent Tom (Tim Heidecker) coming up with a perfect new opportunity – to undergo a week-long assessment at Isaiah’s desert-based cement compound home to determine if he meets the Saviors’ standards.

Obviously Cameron agrees and he has been looking forward to a moment like this for his entire life, especially since Isaiah has been an idol to him since a very young age. But he soon comes to realize the fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be as Isaiah starts to reveal the sinister truth of what lies beneath his football empire.

From there on Isaiah promises to turn things around for Cameron, putting him through a training week that gets quickly weird and involves football-throwing madness, blood transfusions, a scary sauna encounter with one of those bizarre creeps lurking outside and a complete physical while being totally naked in front of everyone, where he gets measured for success.

But the overall presentation is so hectic and stylized that nothing else manages to break through. And the entirety of the 96-minute runtime is filled with incessant montages: news broadcast montages, training montages, and dream montages. When the film isn’t in montage mode, the editing and camera work feel choppy as it employs erratic movements and body-mounted cameras, along with several neat-looking X-ray vision sequences when one would have been enough.

Director Tipping’s amped-up approach also includes a chapter structure with titles in a devilish font, one for each day of Cameron’s stay at Isaiah’s retreat. One of the most shocking aspects of the film is just how poorly executed the scares themselves are as director Tipping just throws a lot of genre tactics that just lay there without impact.

I get it, beneath the script, written by Skip Bronkie, Zack Akers, and Tipping, their lies a critique of how parents, mentors, and the entire football enterprise groom athletes, preparing them for purchase by grotesque executives, much like show horses.

The film also cuts into the cult-like devotion to teams and players, treating them like gods in what is ultimately a hollow commercial enterprise. Players sell their souls to become part of sports history and earn ridiculous salaries. The message isn’t subtle. And director Tipping shows no restraint, and his brand of excess isn’t particularly pleasant, particularly not the gory finale, which might’ve been admirably fun only if the material had been more engaging. Leaving the only saving grace to be the performances.

Marlon Wayans, known mostly for his funny man roles, playing it straight here and exhibits a strong authority like figure. Along with Julia Fox, he gives the film silly and campy vibe that the film needed more of.

Despite the screenplay giving him little to work with, Tyriq Withers is a solid enough lead throughout, giving his best emotions to scenes that would be even blanker without him. In supporting roles, Tim Heidecker, Jim Jefferies, and Naomi Grossman are hilariously bad. On the whole, ‘Him‘ is a disappointing football horror which despite immense potential gets bogged down by its overall vague ambitions.