HIM Movie Review

HIM (2025)

Rent HIM on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Skip Bronkie & Zack Akers and Justin Tipping
Directed by: Justin Tipping
Starring: Marlon Wayans, Tyriq Withers, Julia Fox, Tim Heidecker, Jim Jefferies
Rated: R
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Plot
A young athlete descends into a world of terror when he's invited to train with a legendary champion whose charisma curdles into something darker.

Verdict
The potential of what this could have done overshadows the conclusion. This delves into the eccentric world of the rich, the violence of football, and the expectations and tribulations faced by elite young athletes. How far would you go and what would you sacrifice for your dream of playing football? That's the premise, and I wanted to see that play out in full. While the entire movie has a surreal quality that's unnerving, the conclusion lacks the impact that forces viewers to consider the implications of the movie's themes and question the existing institutions.
It depends.

Review
Football fandom and star adulation are in full effect as a young kid watches his hero Isiah White (Marlon Wayans) in the Super Bowl. White is a heralded quarterback, making the winning play while sustaining a detrimental injury. Despite that, he comes back next season and continues to win.

Marlon Wayans plays Isiah White

Years later that kid is grown up and poised to replace White. Cam Cade (Tyriq Withers) dominated in college, and despite the pressure he's making the leap to the professional league. He's back home from college practicing at his high school one night for the combine, and he's attacked. I didn't expect that. All the promise, and his future could be over before it begins. He's despondent which is understandable. Everything he's worked for teeters on the edge after this heinous attack.

Tyriq Winters plays Cam Cade

It seems like the combine went poorly though we don't see it, but Isiah contacts Cam, picking him as his replacement. Isiah wants to train with Cam for a week to ensure he's the right person to succeed him. Isiah's compound is intimidating alone, not including the full staff. It's a glimpse of what Cam could have. His first interaction with Isiah occurs while Isiah is preparing animals he's hunted and killed. It's clear Isiah is driven and disciplined, and that's why he's managed to stay elite for so long. The training gets strange quickly. For Cam's mistakes another man is punished, taking footballs to the face. How far will you go to be great, for an opportunity? Would you sacrifice someone else? Cam would. Football is violent, ruthless. Players will do anything for just a chance. It's violence glorified. In that, it's almost like a cult. That's sports. This certainly depicts fans as rabid and crazed. Isiah just takes that fervor to the next level within his compound. He has a cadre of players and free agents that want to impress him and get a chance. They will do whatever he asks.

I began to wonder which way this story would tip. We've seen several ideas about football, violence, and fame. I wondered if Isiah had sold his soul to the devil for fame, ability, and longevity. Just as I wonder that, Isiah makes a deal with Cam. The wager is that Isiah gets Cam's youth and Cam gets fame, fortune, and all that entails. Is that how Isiah does it? The entire movie has this dream like quality. It's easy enough to chalk it up to the eccentricities of the rich. While Cam has been catered to his entire life due to his football ability, Isiah has this level of worship and adoration that's on a completely different level. With all of that, where does this go?

Marlon Wayans, Tyriq Withers play Isiah White, Cam Cade

We get an answer, but it's not as exciting as I hoped. Of all the ways this story could go, a league wide conspiracy feels far fetched. I'd more readily believe Isiah has a deal with the devil or employs a pagan sacrifice to maintain his youth. Even a devilish mantle passed down between players would be better. Maybe you have to sacrifice a family member for your dream. Cam stated he'd sacrifice anything, yet he doesn't.

Cam rejects the evil pact, apparently abandoning his dream. Why would he? He's been groomed from the beginning, and few people pass up the opportunity. It's all he knows. Cam upends this decades long cycle, but I like either of the alternate endings as what we get is too tame. One alternate ending had him agreeing to the pact and succeeding in the league. Yet another alternate ending had him rejecting the pact and winning the super bowl on his own abilities alone.