Cast: Marlon Wayans, Tyriq Withers, Julia Fox, Tim Heidecker and Jim Jeffries
Director: Justin Tipping
Rating: ★★
American sports films have long leaned toward inspirational storytelling, where grit, glory and redemption define the arc. HIM, executive produced by Jordan Peele and directed by Justin Tipping, takes that very tradition and splinters it into something darker, bloodier, and far more unsettling. The film stars Tyriq Withers as Cameron Cade, a college quarterback on the cusp of NFL stardom, alongside Marlon Wayans as the legendary Isaiah White, with Tim Heidecker, Jim Jefferies and Julia Fox rounding out a striking supporting cast.
Cameron Cade is heralded as the next big thing in American football, a generational quarterback with a multimillion-dollar future seemingly guaranteed. But a brutal head injury threatens to derail everything. Clinging to his dream, he agrees to train under his idol Isaiah White at a remote desert compound. What initially feels like mentorship quickly warps into a nightmarish gauntlet of physical punishment, psychological manipulation and bizarre rituals. From cultish followers to blood transfusions and visions of biblical proportions, Cameron is forced to confront not only the price of greatness but also the sinister undercurrents of a sport that treats its players as disposable commodities.
The good
What Him does well is its willingness to take risks. Unlike most sports dramas, it doesn’t sanitize the brutality of football. Instead, it doubles down on the carnage — not just the physical toll of concussions and injuries, but the emotional and spiritual weight of playing a game that demands sacrifice at every level. The use of X-ray-style visuals during violent collisions is a brilliant touch, stripping away the glamour of the sport to reveal the damage beneath the skin. Bobby Krlic’s unnerving score amplifies this mood, pulling the viewer into Cameron’s deteriorating psyche.
The film also toys with striking thematic juxtapositions. Football is framed as a quasi-religion, with Isaiah preaching devotion to the game above even God and family. Shots that recall Christian iconography — Cameron posed in a Last Supper tableau, Isaiah cast as a messianic figure — push the film into provocative territory. At its most effective, HIM exposes the cultish fanaticism around sports, drawing parallels between locker room mantras, nationalistic fervor, and religious devotion.
Performances, too, provide some highlights. Tyriq Withers carries the physicality and intensity demanded by Cameron, while Jim Jefferies injects grim humor as Isaiah’s doctor. Julia Fox, playing Isaiah’s wife, is surprisingly effective in adding an eerie layer of menace.
The bad
For all its ambition, HIM falters in execution. The film often stretches believability to breaking point. The notion of a quarterback of Cameron’s caliber — the most privileged position in football — being put through the same trials as lesser players strains credibility for anyone familiar with the sport. Similarly, Wayans as a still-active star quarterback in his fifties feels like a miscast stretch, undermining the realism the film occasionally strives for.
The screenplay, co-written by Tipping, Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie, eventually spirals into incoherence. What begins as a sharp critique of football devolves into gonzo spectacle — blood rituals, surreal hallucinations, and baroque set pieces that border on parody. The third act, drenched in gore and symbolism, divides rather than unsettles, prompting walkouts from some audiences who felt the religious overtones crossed into heavy-handed territory.
Even its critique of football feels muddled. Where a film like Any Given Sunday managed to blend spectacle with authenticity, HIM comes across as untethered, veering into theater instead of meaningful allegory. Instead of sharpening its commentary, it ends up indulging in the very bloodlust it seeks to critique.
The verdict
HIM had the potential to be a searing, genre-bending takedown of America’s most beloved and brutal sport. With Jordan Peele attached as executive producer, expectations were understandably high. And while it succeeds in moments — visually inventive, thematically daring, occasionally gripping — it ultimately loses control of its own game plan.
The film’s attempt to marry horror and sports drama results in something uneven: too surreal for sports fans, too disjointed for horror purists, and too exaggerated for viewers seeking grounded critique. What could have been a sharp exploration of how football consumes its heroes ends up as a fumble — memorable in flashes, but frustrating as a whole.
