Directed by Justin Tipping, Him is a film where sports drama meets horror. HIM is now showing in cinemas worldwide with Tyriq Withers and Marlon Wayans leading the cast.

Cameron Cade is a rising quarterback who suffers a potentially career-ending injury after being attacked by an unhinged fan. When all seems lost, Cam receives a lifeline when his football hero, Isaiah White, offers to train him at an isolated compound. However, as the training accelerates, Isaiah’s charisma turns into something darker, sending Cam down a disorienting rabbit hole that may cost him more than he ever bargained for.

Tyriq Withers stars as Cameron Cade, a promising football prospect who, after getting sidelined with an injury that could end his career, accepts an offer he couldn’t refuse to train with his hero. He also has to deal with visions of mysterious, dark and demonic figures that occasionally haunt him.

Tyriq puts on a solid performance both with his acting and athletic ability. He does a great job of portraying an athlete who was at the top of his game prior to his injury and trying to get back into peak physical form. When things slowly turn bizarre and dark, everything is confusing for him and the audience, which allows us to experience these unusual events along with him.

Marlon Wayans portrays Isaiah White, a football legend whom Cameron looked up to as a kid. Isaiah seems normal at first, but starts to show questionable methods while training Cameron. Marlon and Tyriq have great on-screen chemistry, whether they’re getting along or disagreeing with each other.

Marlon Wayans is best known for his comedic roles, so seeing him in a more serious role and as the main villain is a nice showcase of his acting range. At age 53, he is in great shape for the film, which adds to his intimidating presence and is complimented by his aggressive and tough love methods.

The film also stars Julia Fox as Elsie, a social media influencer and Isaiah’s wife, Tim Heidecker as Tom, Cam’s manager, Jim Jefferies as Marco, Isaiah’s personal do and more as various other characters who add to the bizarre atmosphere of the film. As good as the cast is as their respective characters, the overall plot is where the film falls short. It’s more confusing than it needs to be, doesn’t seem to have a clear direction and doesn’t give audiences much to latch onto. The first half of the film sets up a lot of interesting premises, but doesn’t give a decisive conclusion to most of them.

A football-themed horror film is certainly an interesting concept you don’t see much of, but the overall execution of HIM leaves a lot of unanswered questions. With Tyriq’s mysterious visions that continue to haunt him, it’s never made clear if they’re hallucinations or are connected to the bizarre events that happen at his training camp.

Some of the other characters are simply deranged humans who seem to have some vendetta against Tyriq, but that’s also never explained or why they are the way they are. Of course, keeping some mystery helps maintain the aura of the film and let audiences speculate, but for this film, you’ll still be wondering why a lot of these things are happening at all.

There are some quotes early on in the film about doing whatever it takes, which might be why Tyriq doesn’t leave that mysterious compound early, but that doesn’t hit as hard as it should. What does hit hard, however, is the hard-hitting football action.

Seeing the two main stars and other athletes training together delivers a lot of fun moments, even when things become dark and twisted. Things become more extreme as the training intensifies, leading to more injuries that can be hard to watch, in the best way. The horror aspect of the film makes sure to highlight the gruesome sports injuries that often occur on the field, and it doesn’t hold back on the graphic nature either.

Seeing bones break, joints dislocate, and plenty of blood spilling everywhere is where the film shines the most. A few scenes even show X-rays of the characters as they get hit excessively hard, with close-ups of the bone fractures and head trauma caused by these hard-hitting tackles.

Even their protective gear can only do so much. It’s a grim reminder of what real-life athletes go through just to have successful careers in football. The action and violence are what make the film worth watching, even with a plot that starts off strong but doesn’t quite hit the mark later in the film.

The overall look of the film also creates a lot of intrigue. The film primarily takes place at the state-of-the-art training facility out in the middle of nowhere and sometimes out in the open desert.

The facility has everything a rising football star needs from an indoor field, accommodation, food provided, highly trained doctors, women and more.

It’s no wonder Tyriq chooses to stick around despite the unsavoury things happening around him. A facility like this would be every football player’s dream, but this one becomes Tyriq’s nightmare.

The film’s soundtrack features hip-hop songs by Guapdad 4000, Mavi, Tierra Whack, Jean Dawson, and Denzel Curry, all with perfectly fitting songs for the film. The film’s score was composed by Bobby Krlic with tracks that compliment the more horrific and dark scenes.

HIM starts off strong and sets up a lot of interesting premises, but doesn’t land that touchdown in most aspects. The context behind a lot of what happens leaves a lot of unanswered questions, making the overall story feel less than satisfying, but the action and violence are enough of a reason to watch the film. It feels like the plot was just there as a necessity, so the film has an excuse to showcase the hard-hitting and bone-crunching action.

Despite having Jordan Peele’s name attached to the film, he was actually a producer and the film was directed by Justin Tipping. Him won’t be a film for everyone as it certainly has the style, but lacks the substance.

Written by: Sammy Hanson