The movie “Him” which came out on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, is a sports-horror film produced by Jordan Peele — director of “Get Out,” “Us,” and “Nope,” and directed by Justin Tipping — director of “Kicks.” The movie centers American football and unlike many uplifting sports movies of our generation, this film attempts to tackle the more sinister aspects of the professional sports world. The movie stars Tyriq Withers playing Cameron Cade, an up-and-coming college quarterback trying to get drafted, and Marlon Wayans playing Isaiah White, the best quarterback of all time.
The film starts with a flashback to Cameron’s childhood. The scene depicts Cameron watching football and showcases the fanatic football culture in his family. This flashback scene is a square camera shot, making the overall scene feel unnerving. In this opening scene, football is depicted like a religion. The family has what seems to be an altar dedicated to their favorite fictional football team, the Saviors.
The film then fast forwards to Cameron getting a chance to make it to the NFL, specifically his favorite team, the Saviors. The film starts to take on some more traditional horror elements and leads to Cameron getting injured and getting sent to a compound to train with his idol, Isaiah. This marks a transition from what was a slightly offputting sports movie to a much more violent film. The film contains violent montages with unique and graphic editing. They don’t develop the plot much, but rather the look and feel of the film.
The film also touches on blood lineage and passing on knowledge across generations. While this is an interesting concept, it is severely underdeveloped and easy to misunderstand as irrelevant to the plot.
“Him” attempts to critique the sports world by talking about how difficult it is to be a Black quarterback, but they all end up being throw away lines. They mention deeper concepts, but often fail to call back to them. The whole film centers toxic masculinity and emotional manipulation, as hinted at in the very first scene with Cameron’s father. However, the critiques they are attempting often fall flat and simply leave the viewer feeling confused. The film was generally unclear in its message on toxic masculinity in the sports world, as a result of the lack of clarity when addressing these prominent issues.
The movie centered aesthetic over anything else. It put more emphasis on including artsy elements, abandoning writing and plot development. The acting was decent, but drowned in a plot with too many random and stagnant points.