Review: Him – A letdown, not a touchdown

Directed by Justin Tipping
Starring Tyriq Withers, Marlon Wayans, Jim Jefferies, Tim Heidecker

5.5/10

To appropriately quote an NFL meme, “They had us in the first half, not gonna lie.” Him is indeed an engaging film for its first half, showing plenty of visual and screenwriting flair, not to mention some ferocious acting, as it ropes you in with its mystery behind this cult-like football training seminar. But this all leads to such a disappointment, as the second half truly drops the ball, leading us into nowhere land before ending on a spectacularly bullheaded (or goatheaded) note.

Isaiah (Marlon Wayans) is one of the most celebrated NFL players, though a devastating injury forces him into early retirement. He establishes his NFL drafting combine, where he enlists quarterback hopeful Cam (Tyriq Withers), an avid fan of Isaiah and determined beyond everything to become the GOAT … well, maybe not everything.

Things seem amiss in this training. What are these mysterious injections given to him by the in-house doctor Marco (Jim Jefferies, in a surprising appearance) which cause strange effects in the body and mind? And what’s the deal with these mysterious costumed folks who keep appearing, one of whom gave Cam a critical head injury? What kind of effect will this injury have on Cam’s potential? The answer to all these questions is either ‘nothing interesting’ or ‘nothing at all’.

The first half is so intriguing because it sets so much up, but then the second half is such a let-down because it hardly establishes it. At the awkward halfway point of this film, you get the sense this typifies all the worst in elevated horror, where there’s nothing concrete about the horror elements; they’re just vague and airless attempts at menace.

But after all this impatience of waiting for actual answers to be offered, there’s a nice big exposition dump before a terribly audacious ending of random gore and spooky rituals—it likely would’ve been as fun as it sounds if anything that preceded it actually built up to such a menacing climax.

Despite his name being all over the marketing, don’t believe that this is a Jordan Peele film—he only produced this, with writer-director Justin Tipping taking the helm. To be fair, this man needn’t go into obscurity. The first half of Him shows he has a command over intriguing concepts, and he is able to convey the brutality of putting your body through the ringer with such audacious filmmaking techniques. He just needs a story that is written by someone older than ten.

DAVID MORGAN-BROWN