‘Him’ Review – Football Horror Movie Fumbles Its Visceral Metaphor

The term “goat” has multiple meanings in director Justin Tipping’s HIM, a horror movie centered around an emerging football star whose commitment to the violent sport gets tested over and over to determine how much he’s willing to sacrifice. His pursuit to become the greatest of all time comes paved with metaphorical goats, both of the sacrificial and Faustian bargain variety. Yet, despite a stellar cast and a strong concept executed with vibrant style, HIM fumbles in integrating its visceral symbolism with horror and storytelling.

Former college wide receiver Tyriq Withers (I Know What You Did Last Summer) stars as Cameron Cade, a young quarterback who’s spent his life training to become the next Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), an eight-time champion and football legend. As much potential as Cameron has, though, his career threatens to end before it can even begin thanks to a string of football-induced brain injuries. An attack from a football fanatic nearly ruins Cameron’s chances for good, until Isaiah extends a rare offer to mentor him for a week to prove he still has what it takes. The opportunity holds endless promise, but as the days wear on, it becomes clear that the game may cost Cameron more than he was ever prepared to give.

Marlon Wayans is Isaiah in HIM, directed by Justin Tipping.

Zack Akers & Skip Bronkie and Tipping’s screenplay places emphasis on capturing the sheer viscerality of a player’s sacrifice. It looms large over Cameron’s journey, from the brutally violent inciting head trauma and its lingering effects to the constant breakdowns his body endures as it overtrains for greatness. That only ramps up the longer he’s with Isaiah, a charismatic celebrity with a carefully controlled sadistic streak that further erodes Cameron’s guard and physical state. It’s here where Tipping really leans into surrealism to relay the thornier aspects of giving yourself fully over to a sport so ruthless it snuffs out potential goats all the time.

The problem is that it becomes a crutch for storytelling. It’s a film wrapped up so thoroughly in its football symbolism and heavy-handed, though potent, sacrifice metaphor that it crowds out characterization and narrative. It’s so sparse that dialogue telecasts the entire trajectory, leaving little room for surprises. Not helping is that Cameron is a much more internalized audience proxy. Withers strikes the right balance between vulnerable and determined to earn rooting interest, but he’s so carefully guarded that he’s overshadowed frequently by a riveting, electric Wayans. True to his character, Wayans winds up HIM‘s MVP. There’s an underlying menace to Isaiah that grows more pronounced over the course of the week, but Wayans knows right when to pull it back and layer in the charm and levity. He turns on the star power so brightly that HIM wilts a bit when he’s not on screen. 

Julia Fox as Elsie in HIM, directed by Justin Tipping

Julia Fox, Tim Heidecker, and Jim Jeffries also bring humor to their important but paper-thin roles as key players in Cameron’s week of training hell. Their style of comedy serves the heightened reality setting well, furthering the surrealism and disorienting atmosphere. But that’s ultimately where their function begins and ends. 

While the cast is tremendous, though underserved, it’s Tipping’s grasp of visuals that stands out most. How he visualizes the intensity of training and its effects on the human body, and interprets the various facets of what a goat is, helps carry HIM through some of its more sluggish stretches. Less effective is the horror; while there are some effective scares, they’re too few and far between. Isaiah’s fanatical fans dangle the potential for even more twisted horror explorations, but like most things in this movie, it’s quickly brushed aside in favor of new obstacles. By the time the over-the-top finale arrives, one all but sure to be polarizing, its glorious bloodshed feels too little too late. And far too familiar.

Great cinematography, an earworm score that gets the blood pumping, and a cast committed to Tipping’s hyper-dramatic tribute to the catastrophic toll football takes upon its players help offset some of HIM‘s most notable flaws. But beyond its slick technical polish and potent brutality, HIM isn’t nearly as complex as its tricky camera work and imagery portend.

HIM releases in theaters on September 19.

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