Him Fumbles Its Shot at Greatness

Him

★ ★

Him is described as a football horror film but presents itself more as a cautionary tale about the high cost of fame with enough fantastic conspiracy theories to make the back teeth of anyone wearing a tinfoil hat tingle. It’s the kind of film that grinds out a thesis throughout the story, always edging hard towards a profound point. Unfortunately, it never quite gets there.

Cameron “Cam” Cade (Tyriq Withers) is a rising quarterback for the fictional pro football team, The Saviors. He’s in line to step up behind the current star Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans) who may be hanging up his cleats. But Cam is viciously attacked on his high school football field while training alone at night—a large goat-shaped figure in football gear strikes him hard on the head. The debilitating brain injury puts Cam’s season, and professional career, in jeopardy.

Tyriq Withers as Cam
© Universal Pictures / Monkeypaw Productions

Against doctor warnings, Cam trains hard for the upcoming combine and gets invited by Isaiah to his personal compound for one week of training and assessment. If Cam does well, he’ll earn his spot on the team and his chance to fill Isaiah’s all-star cleats. The compound is in the middle of a desert, at the gate are crazed fans—the kinds you’d more likely see near Area 51. From here, the film is split into seven chapters. Day one is called Fun, followed by Poise, Leadership, Resilience, Vision and Sacrifice. I’m not sure we made it to day seven.

The chapters sound like they might come from a Tony Robbins seminar, but this isn’t a motivational journey. It’s a dark path that starts off innocent and delves into the deep forest of depraved debauchery. It’s clear that there’s some dark force behind Isaiah’s legendary GOAT status. The more Cam travels down this rabbit hole, the more he sees his own self erode, with horrifying football training drills that may cost him his soul.

Tyriq Withers as Cam and Julia Fox as Elsie
© Universal Pictures / Monkeypaw Productions

The film is filled with outlandish conspiracy theories, presented in a way that reminds us that even the wackiest urban legends may have some grounding in truth, however far removed from reality. Its dark tones are richly captured by captivating cinematography and flashy editing that occasionally causes you to question what you saw.

Him feels like it wants to be a study of a man on the verge of sports greatness, fortune and fame as he allows himself to be engulfed by the darkest, unspoken world of professional sports—at least as it’s presented here. In actuality, it had all the makings of an excellent film but is more like a freight train barreling toward nowhere.

Marlon Wayans as Isaiah
© Universal Pictures / Monkeypaw Productions

It strikes similar chords as The Devil’s Advocate where promising young lawyer Kevin Lomax (Keanu Reeves) is hired and mentored by big shot New York lawyer John Milton (Al Pacino). We watch Lomax’s world implode the further he goes under Milton’s wing. It’s a gut-wrenching case study of a man on the verge of selling his soul.

With Him, we’re treated to the story points, but they don’t form anything meaningful. The surprise twist is obvious to anyone half paying attention.

© Universal Pictures / Monkeypaw Productions

To the film’s credit, Wayans is convincing as the soul-scarred retiring superstar, and Withers shows he’s built for character studies that can go into the bowels of darkness. Unfortunately, the script fails their talents and presents us with an incomplete term paper. It might throw some flashy plays and perfect spirals down the field, but the drive stalls before the red zone.