Writer/director Justin Tipping tries to address the pitfalls of fame with HIM. Produced by Jordan Peele, known for blending social commentary with psychological suspense, HIM aims to continue Peele’s record of critically engaging films, while Tipping focuses on the pressures of football. Did it live up to the hype?
The story follows college football star Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers). His personal idol is football legend Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans). After an intense injury, Cade trains at White’s private compound to pursue his football dreams, only to encounter extreme, sanity-testing methods and strange mentors. The film, both a psychological thriller and a football satire, explores ambition, dark humor, and suspense.
The film centers on the theme of the price of greatness—how much someone is willing to sacrifice to achieve it. The sacrifice doesn’t just include the physical; the emotional and psychological toll athletes might face is also just as extreme as any bodily injury.
HIM investigates the sacrifices made in pursuit of extraordinary success. However, the film’s attempt to balance its serious subject with satirical elements results in a tone that wavers, sometimes muddying its core message about the personal cost of greatness and making it unintentionally humorous.
Marlon Wayan’s character, Isaiah White, doesn’t have an expansive arc in the film (Credit: Universal Pictures)
Withers is convincing as Cade, making the sports-hero arc work, but Cade’s choices—especially training with White after an odd injury—aren’t clear. The subplot about his father and toxic masculinity touches the theme without deep exploration. Cade wants to avoid disappointing his father, but the film doesn’t examine how this shapes him.
Wayans plays White as even more of an oddball than Cade. He gives a good performance as the star quarterback who wants one last shot at fame. Some of his scenes, along with those featuring other players training at his compound, end up being unintentionally funny.
White’s dialogue includes a lot of the social commentary you’d expect from a Jordan Peele project, like talking about how American culture is shaped by racism. While these points are interesting, they feel out of place when the main theme—sacrifice for greatness—should take center stage.
Although racism is intertwined with football culture, HIM seems more focused on using racial commentary to match Peele’s past film successes, such as Get Out and Us, rather than to prove a point. The film’s greatest strength lies in focusing on how a person’s pursuit of fame and glory can cost them their humanity. Refocusing on this storyline, especially showing White’s own descent, could have helped clarify the message about sacrifice. Instead, by focusing solely on Cade’s point of view, HIM dilutes its central theme and loses narrative focus.
Racism is a part of football culture, but HIM layers this commentary unsuccessfully with satire about success. (Credit: Universal Pictures)
Julia Fox plays White’s influencer wife, Elsie, but her character is more of a symbol of temptation than a fully developed person. She does a good job with what she’s given, but like Cade, her role is pretty shallow. Mostly, she’s there to promote unusual products on Instagram, tempt Cade, and deliver basic exposition about power struggles. The character would have more depth if she played a larger role in the story, rather than just being a trophy wife and messenger. Fox’s performance is solid, but the character needs more development.
HIM does promise risk-taking within its storytelling. But the film is the most thematically scattered Monkeypaw film yet. Intense violence and heavy religious and moral imagery can’t hide a flawed script. The movie starts with ambition but becomes a funny, unfocused mess that doesn’t quite work. Still, it’s watchable if you want something new after exhausting your favorites, and it could even be a guilty pleasure.
HIM is now streaming on Peacock.
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