INTRODUCTION
This is a quick review of the newly released film HIM. Please note that this is just one of the many movies I will have watched each year, and my initial grade for this film may change over time, for better or worse. To stay up to date on my thoughts about other movies and any potential changes in my opinion on this one, follow me on Letterboxd.
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PLOT
Via Letterboxd: After suffering a potentially career-ending brain trauma, Cameron Cade receives a lifeline when his hero, legendary eight-time Championship quarterback and cultural megastar Isaiah White, offers to train Cam at Isaiah’s isolated compound that he shares with his celebrity influencer wife. But as Cam’s training accelerates, Isaiah’s charisma begins to curdle into something darker.
REVIEW
The acronym GOAT, Greatest of All Time, gets tossed around in sports so much these days that it’s practically lost its meaning. Whether it’s LeBron James stans insisting he’s the greatest over Michael Jordan, or Patrick Mahomes being crowned the title when we literally just witnessed Tom Brady’s career eclipse his in every way, fans seem obsessed with declaring the latest superstar as the greatest ever.
That obsession with being the best permeates across sports, driving even the most elite athletes to extremes such as getting caught in illegal performance-enhancement scandals, serving suspensions for corked bats or deflated footballs, or sacrificing marriages and family life. HIM takes a fascinating stab at exploring those extremes through the lens of football and horror, imagining just how far an athlete might go to achieve a status where they’re remembered as the greatest.
The film follows a young man who grows up idolizing a Tom Brady–like figure, only to find himself drafted as that legend’s successor. To make things even more surreal, his hero invites him to train together for a week. What begins as a dream quickly devolves into a nightmare as the young athlete discovers the brutal reality of what it takes to reach such greatness - obsessive drills, punishing diets, prioritizing sport above God and family, endless hours of game tape study, and eventually extremes that will make him question his sanity and safety.
The young athlete is played by Tyriq Withers, who delivers a much stronger performance here than in the dreadful I Know What You Did Last Summer “re-quel” earlier this year. His idol, meanwhile, is portrayed by Marlon Wayans, usually known for comedies that rarely earn much acclaim. Surprisingly, their dynamic is the highlight of the film. Withers is much more solid than his other horror film appearance from this year, but Wayans truly steals the show. His intense, unhinged portrayal of a football legend teetering on retirement is both magnetic and terrifying, a reminder that he’s capable of impressive dramatic work beyond his comedic roots.
Visually, the film impresses. The cinematography is striking, the score pulses with intensity, and director Justin Tipping experiments with visceral, avant-garde flourishes that vividly convey the toll of chasing GOAT status, mentally, physically, and spiritually, while serving the interests of greedy billionaires who care more about profits than a players’ well-being.
For a while, it’s a fascinating psychological horror study unlike much else in the genre. Unfortunately, the script can’t sustain the weight of its own premise. The further the film goes, the more it stumbles, veering from frightening to flat-out absurd. What starts as a chilling psychological descent devolves into a series of “jump the shark” moments that strained believability for me. By the finale, the movie is trying to be both shocking and transcendent, but ends up feeling more “try-hard” than earned.
That’s the real disappointment here. Backed by Jordan Peele, one of the most exciting modern horror auteurs, HIM had the pedigree to deliver something bold. And while Tipping shows flashes of vision as a filmmaker, the messy, unfocused story sinks the execution.
As wowed as I was by Wayans’s performance, and as intriguing as some of the ideas were, the final product collapses under its own ambition. It started with promise, but by the end, I was left more frustrated than impressed. Earlier this week I thought A Big Bold Beautiful Journey was the low point of my recent screenings, but HIM sinks even lower. It gets a non GOAT-like grade of C+ from me. HIM is not “Him”.
GRADING
