Him, the Marlon Wayans-starring sports-horror hybrid from Universal Pictures and directed by Justin Tipping, is almost a class unto itself. Horror hybrids are plenty abundant, between nearly a century of horror-comedies and at least some history of excellent films in the action-horror (think Aliens, Brotherhood of the Wolf, or the Blade, Hellboy, Predator, and Terminator franchises), war-horror (Blood Vessel, Overlord), or romance-horror (Thirst, Spring, Your Monster) genres.
What's relatively novel, however, is a film that combines a proper sports film with horror trappings. There have been fictional, horrific sports (Rollerball). There have also been films that momentarily involve sports in scenes (A Nightmare on Elm Street's gym scenes or Deadly Friend's basketball) or films with villains misusing sports equipment (Jason Voorhees, get on the ice or take off the hockey mask!). But Him is one of the few films that takes a truly hybrid approach to properly combine the sports and horror genres.
Altogether, Him is a well-conceived novelty that works by and large. Marlon Wayans is exceptional and well supported by the film's other players. Some moments do add confusion that detracts from, instead of enhances, the overall story, but it comes together well enough to be a laudable experimental effort.
Marlon Wayans Is the Real GOAT in Him
Him stars Marlon Wayans as Isaiah White, the quarterback for the San Antonio Saviors who miraculously survived what should have been a career-ending injury, moving on to becoming one of the greatest quarterbacks in history. He's considering retiring and tags injured phenom Cameron "Cam" Cade (Tyriq Withers) as his hopeful replacement. Cam heads to Isaiah's middle-of-nowhere training facility to recover and prepare for greatness but discovers that it's much darker and more dangerous than he knew.
First and foremost, Him is an exceptional tribute to Marlon Wayans' range. Known for pastiche parodies like the Scary Movie franchise for some time, occasionally cut through by genuine bangers like Requiem for a Dream, Wayans has come to be an underrated talent. Not here. In Him, Wayans is wildly charismatic and self-assured but earnestly unsettled, warm yet threatening, and wildly chaotic on a dime. It's an incredible performance that deserves wide discussion.
As the universally bleached (and consequently aptly-named Elsie White), Isaiah's wife and social media maven, Julia Fox, is an excellent talent. Enthusiastic, kind, but routinely otherworldly and mysterious, she slithers around the sports compound with a satanic sex appeal that adds to the film's odd tone.
Tyriq Withers' Cam Cade is a bit of a blank slate, having recently suffered a traumatic head injury and finding himself gradually awash with the weirdness of his situation. Much of the time, Cam isn't really reacting to what's happening around him; he's dazed, injured, drugged up, or shocked, which also means that Withers spends most of the film as inert matter with a six-pack, at least until the shocking ending. That says more about the direction and scripting than his capabilities, but we don't truly see them for most of the film.
Him Is a Good, but Sometimes Confusing, Journey
One of the best elements of Him is that the film excels in finding sources of horror central to football itself. The cultlike culture that surrounds the game and its obsessive fandom, the esoteric visage of "cutting-edge" training practices, and the eeriness of upper echelon owners are all creatively mined for terror. That's essential for a film like this to seem more than horror tropes duct-taped to a sport, and Him nails that element.
To put audiences in the Cam's subjectivity, there are a number of moments where quick-cut edits or surreal cinematography reflect his mental state, exhibiting his confusion. It's a sound technique, but there are a number of times when it makes what's really happening confusing to the audience in inadvisable ways. Blurring lines between reality and subjectivity is a time-honored psychological horror trope, but there are times (including the finale) where it doesn't fully land.
Additionally (and without spoilers), the ending is excellent in some ways and subpar in others. As scripted, it's memorable and fun to watch, allowing Tyriq Withers perhaps the best showcase of his acting prowess in the film (and he absolutely nails it). The events that set it up, however, point to a wildly different finale. Subverting expectations is fine, but certain character choices seem both abrupt and wildly at odds with choices that immediately precede them. What happens is good, but the setup needs honing.
Altogether, Him is a weird one, mostly in a good way. It's immersive and well shot. The horrors are well-tied conceptually to core elements of football and largely successful in execution. Marlon Wayans' committed performance genuinely tears the stadium down. All that said, it also has some style-generated confusion and a few narrative issues, some of which drag down an otherwise promising lead performance. It definitely makes the playoffs, but doesn't quite make the Super Bowl.
Final Rating: 7/10
Him touches down in theaters September 19, 2025.
