Football, fame, and greatness. These are some of things an aspiring professional athlete is pursuing in a new horror film from Universal. Him introduces us to Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers), the next big thing at quarterback preparing to be drafted to the pros. After a career threatening injury, Cam receives a lifeline when his hero, legendary QB Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans) offers to train him at his compound in preparation to be drafted by his team the San Antonio Savors should all go well. As the two train, Isaiah’s charisma turns into something darker, sending Cam down a disorienting rabbit hole that may cost him more than he ever bargained for.
As made evident by its trailer, Him is seeking to explore the trappings of fame and success; the sacrifices that are associated with reaching the pinnacle and what people are willing to endure to get there. The film does well in establishing the evils of its world and Cam’s encounters with them, but spends almost no time establishing the temptations that would send him down that path in the first place. Granted, some exposition and an opening flashback seek to highlight Cam’s father as the main impetus for his compulsion to achieve greatness, but even this thread falls short in the end as we’ll touch upon later. From the moment Cam meets Isaiah, we’re shown the intensity, and lingering evil, of the latter star’s training methods and what he had to do in order to become a legend. The brutal practices, the shadowy health regimen, the sociopathy is all there.
The problem is, this is all that is shown and it ultimately becomes repetitive while creating an unbalanced story. We are shown what Cam must endure, the downsides of fame, but what about the temptation that pulls in an aspiring athlete? One would think that adoration would be a major pull, but the sports fan component in Him is also presented as horror, with the fans being crazed figures who stalk the athletes in the shadows and eventually violently reject the stars they don’t like, embodied by the crazed Isaiah fan Marjorie played by Naomi Grossman. There are two party sequences involving women that show some of the enticement one would associate with fame and riches, but save for those moments, the film spends too much time dwelling on the sinister that it fails to establish its overall premise of what would a person do for success by being unbalanced. Even during its third act climax when it seeks to bring things full circle by tying Cam’s ultimate decision by his harkening back to his father’s guidance on being willing to sacrifice, it doesn’t feel like it ties into either the choice or what we’ve seen Cam do or face onscreen up until that point. The result is a theme and story that feels undercooked and ill-explored.
Despite Him’s shortcomings, the cast admirably does the best with the material they are given. Wayans is superb as Isaiah Walker, portraying a tantalizing villain who can alternate between cool and charismatic to simmering evil and intimidating intensity. It has been a common refrain among people familiar with his talents that it is lamentable he doesn’t pursue more non-comedic acting roles and his turn here does nothing to change that complaint. Wayans absolutely carries this film and his performance is its best asset. Julia Fox also does well as his wife Elsie, at first a doting, sociable partner and then something more sinister. Fox brings charm and believability to a role that could have been an afterthought. Withers is serviceable as Cameron, he certainly looks the part and he has some standout moments, most notably his monologue about his last conversation with his father and why he plays football. Him is acted well even if it isn’t written so. It must also be pointed out that this is a visually rich film as well with dynamic lighting and coloring amidst elaborate production design is that eye-catching and appealing. The way that the football action is captured is great as well, with some good first-person shots from the perspective of inside a football helmet to the x-ray shots of the players as they brutally collide with one another. This aspect helps to provide some gory horror elements without blood, although there’s plenty of that here too.
The presence of these strong, positive secondary elements makes Him’s main failing of an undercooked story all the more disappointing as the other aspects were in place for this film to turn out better than it did. Marlon Wayans provides a great performance and is supported by Julia Fox and Tyriq Withers supporting him capably. This along with the Nicholas Winding Refn-type visuals combined with a premise ripe for exploration surrounding fame and its pitfalls and promises should have resulted in something stronger. Ultimately, Him fails to complete the pass and reach the end zone.
Image: Universal Pictures
