Much has been said about Jordan Peele‘s attachment to Him. Though, like Peele’s own directorial efforts (the thematically complex Get Out, Us, and Nope), Justin Tipping‘s film bathes in its horror elements and topical commentary, it’s more in tune with other producorial efforts (Nia DaCosta’s Candyman and Dev Patel’s Monkey Man), proving a feature that swings big with its idea and delights in an unsubtle nature and allegorical imagery. Him may say too much or not enough for the individual, but there’s no denying it’s bombastically thrilling and gorgeously audacious in what it’s presenting.
Highlighting the worshipping nature of football, we learn that from a young age – whether by his own desire or entirely guided by his father – that Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers, in a true star-making turn) has not only wanted to play the game, but be considered the greatest of all time. When it appears as if he’s on the cusp of achieving a career-making break with the San Antonio Saviors – the team that his idol, Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans, truly outstanding), was the star quarterback for – he’s brutally attacked, sustaining a brain injury that threatens to derail any professional advancement.
All is not lost though, as Isaiah presents an opportunity to Cam to train with him at his isolated, expansive estate, essentially testing the young buck as a prime replacement in the face of his own retirement. Isaiah’s training camp is bloody and unorthodox, to say the least, and with Cam still healing from his injury, his reality becomes brutally blurred with nightmarish imagery that he’s unable to properly decipher and differentiate from the other.
Not unlike Darren Aronofsky’s divisive mother!, Him, which similarly alludes to religious connotations in its narrative, doesn’t aim for subtlety as it gradually escalates over the course of its 96 minutes, before utterly exploding in an amalgamation of literal blood, sweat and tears as it details how far someone will go in their strive for greatness. Tipping isn’t doing anything half-hearted here. In fact one could even say that he’s taken the themes of his 2016 debut, Kicks, an adventure film about a 15-year-old who believes his new pair of sneakers bring him as much luck as they do negative attention, and dialed them up to eleven in a cautionary tale around Cam’s belief that football is his ticket to greatness. But with such power comes a price he may not be willing to pay.
Selling your soul to the devil isn’t a new navigation for these types of films, but Tipping, working off his own script co-written with Skip Bronkie and Zack Akers (the duo having written the podcast-turned-television series Limetown), is seemingly aware that he isn’t reinventing the wheel, and instead layers his story with Kafkaesque imagery and intentional, zippy editing. You’re supposed to take notice of his flourishes. If you think it’s all style over substance, that may not be such a bad thing. Tipping is an exciting creative and, if nothing else, Him is a wild launching pad for his evident talent.
That being said, Him personally worked for this reviewer. It’s gloriously twisted and it owns its broad personality. It also has a duo of committed star turns at its core in Withers and Wayans; the former utilising his evident aesthetic prowess to grand effect, whilst detailing so much of Cam’s emotional journey with the smallest of looks, and the latter never being better than he is here, savouring every theatrical moment as a surface level “villain” whose ultimately so much more of a design than expected. Julia Fox also revels in her small supporting role as Isaiah’s influencer, more-than-a-trophy-wife wife, who plants just enough perverted seedlings throughout to leave a lasting impression.
Whilst those perhaps under the impression that this is a Jordan Peele feature may feel unmoved in how blunt Him ultimately is, if you enter with a more open mind and understanding that his prints aren’t on this in a physical manner, you may be more susceptible to how impudently wild and, quite frankly, bonkers this at-times blackly comic horror outing is. It’s filled with ideas and commentary on celebrity, worship, race, ageing and power, and, sure, it may overspill such in its excitement, but there’s still enough left in its original presentation to enjoy both what Tipping has to say and how he orchestrates Withers and Wayans to deliver it.
FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Him is now screening in theatres in the United States. It will be released in Australian theatres on October 2nd, 2025.
