Him (2025) is directed by Justin Tipping, who also wrote the film alongside Zach Akers and Skip Bronkie. It stars Tyriq Withers, Marlon Wayans, Julia Fox, Jim Jefferies, Tim Heidecker, Maurice Greene, Indira G. Wilson, Geron McKinley, Heather Lynn Harris, Don Benjamin, Richard Lippert, and Naomi Grossman. The film follows emerging football superstar Cameron Cade (Withers), who fears his dream may be cut short after an unexpected injury shakes him to his core. He’s eventually contacted by his childhood hero and undisputed G.O.A.T., Isaiah White (Wayans), who offers him a lifeline in the form of one-on-one private training. Trapped at White’s secluded training facility with no ability to contact the outside world, Cade quickly learns that being the best requires more sacrifice than he ever could’ve imagined. 

Considering how undercooked the film ultimately feels, Tyriq Withers and Marlon Wayans both deliver star performances, even though their characters don’t amount to much on the page. Wayans effortlessly transitions from friendly to fiendish at the tip of a hat, a quality the GOAT would probably require. You’d need that killer instinct to kick in at a moment’s notice. He reminds audiences that he’s a highly talented dramatic actor, able to convey so much pain and menace with just a simple stare. On the other hand, Tyriq Withers feels completely authentic as a modern football star. I thought he was arguably the best element of the I Know What You Did Last Summer ‘requel’, despite playing a character designed to be an annoying scumbag. This time around, he proves he can play a wholly likable hero. I just wish the character weren’t such an oblivious buffoon for most of the runtime. 

Director Justin Tipping displays a uniquely chilling visual style, one that’s unsettlingly clean and bright. There’s an energetic, engaging quality to the editing, so it’s a shame that so many elements are undercooked, unexplained, or completely uninteresting. The idea of exploring how we often treat sports like a religion/cult is a compelling starting point, but that’s as far as the film takes it. The portrayal of fans is uncomfortably one-sided, bluntly presenting them as psychotic leeches, yet never acknowledging their perspective. By the end, this movie tries to touch on so many things, it never really lands on any kind of message beyond “Americans love football and football is violent, so that means Americans love violence.” Ok, whatever. 

There’s also a strange twinge of humor throughout, but not a single joke. All it really does is urge us not to take this situation seriously, even though everything anyone says and does is horrifying. Casting comedians Jim Jefferies and Tim Heidecker in roles where they do nothing funny is a dumbfounding choice. Speaking of dumbfounding decisions, I’ll never understand making a slow-burning horror movie that feels the need to constantly advertise its eventual twist. This all results in a climax that essentially just takes the schlockiest, laziest route possible. The script basically decides, “screw it, let’s kill everyone.” On top of all this crap, the one or two truly unsettling sequences it does have to offer were shamelessly spoiled in the marketing, extracting every last ounce of would-be fun from the experience before people even got to see it. 
 

Overall, this is a highly disappointing, surface-level horror experience that leaves the viewer with more questions than answers. The only elements that save it from being a complete disaster are its two lead performances and the unique professional sports setting. There’s no doubt that Tipping’s vision is original, just not very intelligent. I suppose it’s an easy watch if you enjoy the genre, but it’s not something I’d recommend (and I thought the trailers looked promising). C