‘Him’ lands somewhere between horror and horrible

By Alfie Eville

Kicking off the 2025 football season last Friday, director Justin Tipping released his film “Him.” It is a grisly take on the rise to stardom in professional football, exploring the sacrifices and hardships that a young football star must face, while combining elements of horror and violence with humor and heart. Produced by 21st-century horror icon Jordan Peele, the film showed promise in its trailers; after all, what is better than when football meets gruesome horror movies? But did it deliver in the final product? Not exactly.  

The greatest and most immediately apparent flaw is the one-note plot that stretches a simple idea out unnecessarily and ineffectively over 90 minutes, and never really goes beyond that. It is frustrating to see because the idea of a “football horror film” is interesting and could be entertaining if done right. But “Him” never branches past that one idea and ends up being shallow. Avant-garde themes of sacrifice and satanism are lazily and haphazardly thrown in to get audiences talking, but these ideas feel like an afterthought that do nothing to enhance the story. Do not let these supposedly artsy themes distract you from what is a tiny idea that overstays its welcome and never evolves past what is shown in the advertisements.   

With a shallow story also comes a flat and one-dimensional main character, with Tyriq Withers, delivering an uninspired performance in the lead role of young quarterback prospect, Cameron Cade. The film has trouble making you sympathize with Cade’s goals and difficulties, as they are not conveyed too well to begin with, but it is not helped by Withers’ bland portrayal of the character. It feels like he is coasting through the movie, which leaves the audience feeling nothing by the end.

That being said, Marlon Wayans, cast in the role of veteran quarterback Isaiah White, was perfect. Wayans delivers a performance so incredible that it seems out of place. His brooding presence on screen at many points masks the movie’s poor writing. Watching this movie is almost worth it just to see him and his scenes as White.  

The pros to this film are not exclusive to Wayans, though, as the horror is executed very well. “Him” starts off very slowly, but ramps up quickly once Cade and White meet. From there, the film has some decent jump scares and moments of well-written tension. The practical effects, too, in certain scenes are excellent and there is an unexpected and impressive level of gore in the movie that horror fans will especially appreciate.   

“Him” is unfortunately one of those movies that has high expectations but just does not deliver. It is not hard to predict the entire movie from just watching all of its trailers. For some horror fans, however, it may be worth watching with the violence being spectacularly done and perfect for the spooky season ahead. It may not be a great movie, but it has a few memorable moments and can definitely be enjoyed if you just turn your brain off and mindlessly absorb the horror of it. For those reasons, Tipping’s 2025 film “Him” is decently entertaining, but poorly executed, landing somewhere in the blandness between horror and horrible. I give it a two out of five star rating.

Alfie Eville is a freshman secondary education and history major