This review contains spoilers for the movie ‘HIM.’
It’s fourth-and-7 on the 25-yard line with one minute left. Our team is down six. The coach calls a time out and sends the offense back. Anticipation in the stadium is running high. The quarterback starts yelling plays, but we soon realize it’s just an attempt to draw an offsides penalty.
Here comes special teams. We’re kicking a field goal instead of going for the excitement, for the win.
This is what watching Justin Tipping’s “HIM” felt like.
Several months ago, I found out about the movie “HIM” and instantly got super excited. All I needed to hear was “football,” “horror,” and “produced by Jordan Peele.” I saw it the day after it was released, only to be merely moderately amused and majorly disappointed by how tame it felt.
The story follows star quarterback prospect Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers) after he suffers a potentially career-ending brain injury in an attack. He is invited to train for a week at the isolated home of his football hero, Isaiah “Zay” White (Marlon Wayans), where he quickly realizes things are not what he thought they would be.
The movie’s greatest flaw is that it just fails to ever really establish an identity. At times it is campy and weird, while other times it leans into a Macbeth-esque descent into madness; but, most of the time it was awkwardly caught somewhere in the middle, swarmed by overwhelming editing and lost in a rapid-fire pace.
If Tipping had focused all the way on the absurdity, the movie would be better. For example, when Cameron and Zay have a throwing practice and in order to raise the stakes, one of the receivers has to stand in front of a passing machine to be hit by a football flying 70 mph to the face every time Cam throws an incomplete pass, that’s graphic, but gripping. When Cam sits at a table with reporters and the camera zooms out, revealing a frame that recreates “The Last Supper,” it’s odd, but funny. When Cameron goes Myles-Garrett-mode and hits Zay on the head with a helmet, that’s over the top, but exciting. These types of scenes in the movie definitely feel extra, but they work because they lean into the weirdness.
If Tipping had focused all the way on Cameron’s mental collapse, the movie would be better. The scenes of Cam having visions of his attacker coming back, or being attacked by the press, made the movie much more engaging. The jarring editing as Cam takes more and more substances is unique and visually interesting. When Cameron finally goes berserk in the final scene and murders all the owners and managers of the team and he’s shown smirking, covered in blood, and holding the weapon he was attacked with over his shoulder as the credits start to roll—that was what I wanted the whole movie.
The point is, Tipping needed to just go for it. Instead, he kicked the field goal and cut the baby in half. Anticipaton—gone. Vibes—dead.
In addition to the almost-there plot, Cameron’s character was underdeveloped. Since the plot moved so fast, there was little time to sit with the significant information the movie does give about him.
For example, when Cam begins to talk about why he plays football, he mentions the pressure to be great he felt from his dad when he was growing up. He eventually told his dad he was done with football, but he didn’t take it well. Cam picked it up again after his dad passed away, feeling like he had let his dad down. That would have been an interesting idea to develop further instead of just showing Cam almost shed a tear before quickly moving on. They neglected to explore the burden he likely felt to be masculine enough from a young age and to change himself to meet his father’s standards. That Cameron can’t even cry about the death of his father could have been meaningful if the movie had actually acknowledged it.
I think focusing more on Cam’s humanity would have given the audience actual reasons to root for him and given the movie the genuine emotional impact it lacked.
Another potential route could’ve been to explore his experience as a young Black man in an industry where old wealthy white owners make money pushing his body to its breaking point. Most other films produced or directed by Jordan Peele deal with themes of racism so this would feel very natural.
“HIM” has the premise, acting, and production of a good movie but hardly any of the action holds real power. I chuckled and I cringed, but I was not moved in any substantial way. I’m not sure what deeper meaning or horror the movie was trying to get across besides, “Wow, isn’t it weird how much people love football?” Overall, the opportunity to win was there, but Tipping never called the right plays.