Him Review: Marlon Wayans Is Scary Good In This Nightmarish Sports Horror Movie

Existing somewhere in the netherworld between Rob Zombie's "The Lords of Salem" and Gore Verbinski's criminally underrated "A Cure For Wellness," with a little of Oliver Stone's "Any Given Sunday" thrown in for the hell of it, Justin Tipping's weirdo sports horror pic "Him" has a lot going for it. Tipping clearly has a knack for conjuring up nightmare imagery, working with cinematographer Kira Kelly and editor Taylor Joy Mason to create a film that frequently operates under dream logic — it's hard to tell what's real and what's not. The imagery here is both scary and stunning, giving us vast desert landscapes, cold modernist structures, ritualistic fields, and flashes of what look like x-rays showing us bones breaking beneath skin.

Then there's the cast, specifically the two leads. Tyriq Withers is instantly believable as Cameron Cade, a young man who dreams of football glory. But the film really belongs to Marlon Wayans, who is working on a completely different level here as Cam's hero, legendary quarterback Isaiah White. At first extremely friendly and kind, Isaiah's attitude morphs into something far more sinister, and there are moments where Wayans seems to be channeling Daniel Day-Lewis' Bill the Butcher from Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York." Honestly, Wayans' performance might be worth the price of admission alone.

Unfortunately, the script, credited to Tipping, Skip Bronkie and Zack Akers (Jordan Peele's name is featured heavily in all the marketing, but remember: he's a producer here, he did not write or direct the film) eventually ends up fumbling at the 1-yard line. It's a pity, because for a large chunk of the running time, "Him" feels wonderfully weird and twisted. But after a while, you start to get the sense that no one thought this story through.

Cameron Cade grew up worshipping at the altar of of Isaiah White, the championship-winning quarterback for the San Antonio Saviors ("Him" has no time for subtilty, damn it, and lays its religious imagery and themes on heavy without apology). At one point, Isaiah suffered a terrible injury on the field — a bone was literally sticking out of his leg. But he managed to come back stronger than ever. However, he's getting older, and it might be time for him to retire. And should he retire, there's already some rumblings in the football world that Cam, who has grown up to be a star player himself, is the man to take his place.

Cam's career hits a wall, however, when a mysterious figure in a creepy costume whacks him in the head and leaves him with a brain injury that requires staples in his skull. All is not lost, though, because soon Cam is summoned to Isaiah's high-tech remote compound to train for a week. The opportunity to train one on one with his idol sounds like a dream come true, but since this is a horror movie, we know that this dream will soon turn into a nightmare.

Sure enough, the training quickly shifts from seeming perfectly normal to becoming completely unhinged, with plenty of ritualistic displays of masculine violence, including other players having footballs deliberately launched directly into the faces by machines, all while Cam keeps getting mysterious injections from Isaiah's private doctor (an amusing Jim Jefferies). Also occasionally on hand, lurking about: Isaiah's weirdo wife, played with just the right amount of ghoulish makeup by Julia Fox. All of these elements are sturdy enough to create a sufficient atmosphere of dread, and Tipping isn't afraid to go over-the-top with the type of old school music video style that would make even the late, great Tony Scott blush. But where is this all going?

I sat through the first hour or so of "Him" totally vibing with the gonzo energy the film was throwing out, and to its credit, the movie clocks in at a brisk 96 minutes and never feels long in the tooth. Unfortunately, it also seems to come up short when it counts most. A repetitiveness begins to set in, along with a predictability — we've pretty much figured out what the heck is going on here long before Cam, and it's a bit frustrating to have to wait for him to catch up.

And while "Him" eventually unleashes a big bloody finale, that finale feels oddly lacking. I'm treading carefully here because I don't want to give away spoilers, but the way the final scenes play out feel unearned, as if the film is cheating somehow; taking the easy way out. I can't help but feel the film had a completely different, better ending that got changed as a result of test screening cold feet, but that's pure speculation on my part.

Poor conclusion aside, "Him" clearly indicates that Justin Tipping is a filmmaker to watch, especially if he wants to stick around in the horror genre. Best of all, though, it serves as a wonderful showcase for Marlon Wayans, who has never really been as good as he is here, turning in a performance that's both incredibly fun and undeniably unsettling. I just wish the rest of the movie could match his energy.

/Film Rating: 6 out of 10

"Him" opens in theaters September 19, 2025.