Him review

HIM: 

HORROR-SPORTS MOVIE TURNS FOOTBALL INTO A SATANIC RITUAL…AND FUMBLES AT IT! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** ½ out of 4

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Tyriq Withers in Him

 

            A promising football player gets the training from Hell in Him, the new horror film produced by Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us, Nope) and directed by Justin Tipping (Kicks). This was one of my most anticipated films of the year, I think Jordan Peele is one of the most exciting people in the film industry given his directing credentials and I quite enjoyed the Candyman movie he produced in 2021. 

            Now we have a new movie he’s producing which instantly got my attention when I first saw the teaser trailer in theaters in front of Sinners. The film seemed like Whiplash except for football and somehow even more nightmarish, I had to know what this movie was all about after seeing the trailers and ads for it constantly. 

            Well, now that I’ve seen the film and after all the hype, Him is pretty disappointing sadly despite the talents in front of and behind the camera. The movie’s not terrible and I saw aspects of a great, clever movie in here, but coming off of other horror films released this year like Sinners, Weapons, and Together which did crazy things and elevated the genre, this was a big fumble, pun intended. 

            The film follows Cameron “Cam” Cade (Tyriq Withers-The Game, Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead(2024), I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)), a young football player destined for greatness until an attack by an obsessed fan threatened to end his career before it even started. Just when all hope is lost, his idol and legendary quarterback, Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans-Scary Movie franchise, White Chicks, Air) invites Cam to train at his isolated, private compound. 

            But what starts off as the ultimate childhood dream descends into a nightmare as Cam must ask himself “What is he willing to sacrifice?”. 

            The film also stars Julia Fox (Uncut Gems, No Sudden Move, Presence) as Elsie White, Tim Heidecker (Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, Bridesmaids, Us) as Tom, Jim Jefferies (Legit, The Jim Jefferies Show, The 1% Club) as Marco, Naomi Grossman (American Horror Story) as Marjorie, GiGi Erneta (Veronica Mars, Roswell, New Mexico, Love and Death) as Ayn, and Norman Towns (The Gambler, Insecure) as Willis. 

            Overall, Him certainly has a lot going for it and there are some genuinely creepy and unsettling scenes, but the film’s stilted execution makes it never truly live up to its full potential. During its production, I’m convinced the idea was much scarier and cleverer in concept, but in the finished product, it seems off. 

            The biggest problem is that I don’t know what the film is trying to say, getting drafted in football is like a satanic ritual? Maybe it’s because I don’t know much about football (or sports in general) so I might be missing something about this, but because of this half-baked supernatural element, it took me out of the film unfortunately. 

            Compared to 2019’s Ready or Not which also had a satanic ritual, it was a lot smarter and much more entertaining because it was better developed and you got what they were trying to say, a social satire on the wealthy and privileged. Had Him managed to do something like that with football and had the wit and intrigue of that film, maybe we could have had something here. 

            I personally felt it would have worked much better as a psychological thriller that shows how far someone would go to be the best at football. A psychological dive into madness over a sport with an unhinged mentor that has intense methods, keep the supernatural stuff out of this. 

            Marlon Wayans to his credit is excellent and hands down the best part of the movie, a rare departure from comedy for him as he creates this unhinged and frightening mentor character whose methods of training this young player could even make J.K. Simmons from Whiplash go “Jesus Christ, you’re going too far!”. While I may not have enjoyed the film all that much, I loved it when he was onscreen. 

            Honestly, everybody gives their all in this movie, but the material doesn’t really give them much to work with. I commend the cast for trying to make something out of this. 

            There are some creepy and disturbing imagery in this movie though it’s mostly just intense shots of needles, body parts/organs, and x-rays of skeletons. Actually, the sequence where Withers slams into another player and you see their skulls crash together; it reminded me a lot of a Mortal Kombat game so that was kind of neat to see (And hear, I saw the movie on IMAX). 

            Him seems like a movie that was heavily trimmed down in editing or Justin Tipping got too carried away with his vision because there are sparks of a clever and frightening film in here, but the film doesn’t do much with its premise. This is easily the biggest letdown of 2025 for me because the trailers did such a good job at making me intrigued and horrified by what I would experience, turns out I got a movie where I didn’t know what to feel at the end and not in a great way compared to other horror films. 

            It did, however, give me my favorite line of 2025 “Cock a Doodle Doo, Motherfucker!”. That and Marlon Wayans going crazy, those were the best things in this competent but misguided horror flick.