Him: el elegido

Greetings again from the darkness. Here is my PSA (Public Service Announcement): This is not a "Football" movie. If you are expecting FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS or ANY GIVEN SUNDAY, you will be disappointed. This is a Psychological Horror film (think BLACK SWAN) featuring a couple of football players, and it's produced by Jordan Peele, he of NOPE and GET OUT fame. Writer-director Justin Tipping (KICKS, 2016) and co-writers (co-creators of "Limetown") Zack Aker and Skip Bronkie serve up few X's and O's, and plenty of commentary on fame and the quest for greatness.

Marlon Wayans is best known for his comedy work, and here he delivers his best dramatic performance since REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (2000). He plays Isaiah White, the ultra-successful quarterback of the fictional San Antonio Saviors. Many consider White the G. O. A. T. (Greatest of All-Time). His issue is that he's aging and is likely at the end of his career. On the other end of the spectrum, we have rising star Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers, I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER), the young hotshot who many predict will replace White as the GOAT. Cameron's problem is that a surprise causes possible brain damage, knocking him out of the combine and leaving him undrafted.

Cameron's off-kilter agent (Tim Heidecker) arranges for him to train with White for a week. Having worshipped Isaiah White for most of his life, Cameron jumps at the chance. Upon arriving at White's isolated desert compound, he quickly discovers dreams don't always match reality. White greets him warmly, but we all notice (well, Cameron's a bit slow) that things are a bit off. From a sadist trainer (MMA fighter Maurice Greene) to a sardonic doctor (a funny Jim Jeffries), to a creatively made-up and creepy Mrs. White (Julia Fox), the setting for a horrific week is in place.

White pushes Cameron past the point of decency in training, and the doctor delivers some curious blood transfusions. White preaches to Cameron that this unorthodox approach is what's required for peak performance and greatness. The commitment must be to excellence, not some mushy family-first mentality. Some of the drills are violent, while others turn a bit nuts. This is psychological warfare mixed with physical extremes.

There are some cool x-ray effects, and the music from Bobby Krlic (The Haxan Cloak) adds a nice touch; however, this is about envy and power. The first two acts have some eye-opening moments, but things really fly off the rails in the finale. Brutal violence seems too mild as a description, and the commentary on team ownership expectations seems a bit heavy-handed. We all know billionaires are accustomed to getting what they want. This one is worth seeing for Marlon Wayans' performance, but we find ourselves thinking "what if" through much of the film.

Opens in theaters on September 19, 2025.

DO NOT GO INTO THIS THINKING IT IS A JORDAN PEELE MOVIE!!!! The film looked absolutely stunning. The sound was on the same level and the acting was amazing from the entire cast. This movie had so much going for it that the plot kind of disappointed me. It had so many good ideas and yet it did not dig deep enough into any of them to make them stick. I made the mistake of going into this film thinking it was a classic jordan Peele movie. This is not that. Why it has a similar look and pace of many jordan peele movies it just was not on the same level thematically. It tried to run everyway at once and left every path slightly treaded on, but not fully followed.

'HIM' tries to immerse us in a dark world where winning, being the best, and doing whatever it takes to get there matter most. It shows the hardships, demands, and questionable choices faced by those striving to be the greatest of all time. However, due to its overuse of symbolism, metaphors, and some odd decisions with camera cuts and style, it leaves us feeling indifferent about what happens to any character or the story itself.

The highest praise that we can give this movie is for Marlon Wayans, who delivers a career-best performance. Still, that gets lost in a film that fails to make us care about anything happening on screen, leaving us puzzled rather than moved. There's a good movie in here somewhere, but they fumbled the chance of making it get there.

'HIM' is a rough film, filled with unrelatable characters, a chaotic artistic style, and a story that ultimately doesn't evoke emotion or connection. Marlon Wayans is excellent, but everything else about this film feels forced, pretentious, and heavy-handed.

Brad: 4.5 Josh: 5

Full Review: wbtp.link/youtube.

People aren't giving it a fair shake I don't think. It does have its problems, for one "tense" dramatic scenes feel goofy, whether it be bad directing or writing or acting I can't really tell but that does hurt the movie. However; there also is a lot of good to say, The message is on the nose but its also very worth telling, not many movies will have the guts to do it so I will applaud it for that. The cinematography is amazing, the scenes in the desert look amazing. The plot is a little confusing and I can see how people would think that it's "Fake Deep" or whatever but I can't wait to actually dive into all the symbolism when I can watch it again. On the negative side It's also hard to judge what the characters are about or what they want.

I will say something positive. There is some really nice cinematography in the film to enjoy as well as some good acting out of Wayans. That's about it. The movie was horrendously disjointed. I think the movie wanted to be a lot of things, but I couldn't tell you exactly what any of those are as they failed miserably to get there. I was bored the vast majority of the movie, almost napped multiple times, and was shocked to hear it's only an hour and a half movie. I was convinced by the end that it was pushing 2-1/2 hours. Don't waste your time. It's so bad it doesn't deserve your time.