Jordan Peeleโ€™s impact on the horror genre over the past decade has far exceeded any expectations one could have envisioned when he suddenly staked his claim in the field less than 10 years ago. The man proved without reservation that he was, as the kids are saying these days, โ€œHim,โ€ to the degree that the Peele cosignโ€”largely by way of his burgeoning Monkeypaw Productions bannerโ€”became an instant marker of horror voices worth hearing, even if they werenโ€™t his own.

How much that cosign has come to mean in the intervening years has varied between projectsโ€”the biggest get Peele has managed under his banner so far has been in courting established names like Henry Selick and Spike Leeโ€”but what remains certain with โ€œHimโ€ is that Justin Tippingโ€™s reliance on Peeleโ€™s brand recognition goes well beyond a mere endorsement. Essentially trading โ€œGet Outโ€ for โ€œGet Off the Field,โ€ Tippingโ€™s second feature doesnโ€™t seem capable of existing without its progenitorโ€™s specific brand of off-kilter comedy-horror commentary on the commodification of Black bodies; whatโ€™s more, the film doesnโ€™t seem capable of thriving within this framework, either.

This much is clear from the opening deluge of dime-a-dozen backstory exposition laying the groundwork for Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers) to be the star of the show. We know heโ€™s the star of the show because โ€œHimโ€ will take every opportunity to bask in the potential of this absolutely perfect specimen of football quarterback, perfected even further by the persistent grind-set instilled by his late father to make whatever sacrifices might be necessary to lead his sport across a field strewn with bloody spittle.

This determination puts Cade in the path of his idol, Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), who enlists the newcomer after a sudden blow to the head to take on a week-long intensive training session on his isolated compound, in preparation for an upcoming scouting event. Whiteโ€™s methods strain even the most hardened limits of dedication, and under the tutelage of this monstrously unhinged mentor, Cade begins to understand that if he wants to become the GOAT, heโ€™ll have to learn to grab life by the horns.

Read More: New Trinity in Horror Cinema: Films of Jordan Peele, Robert Eggers, and Ari Aster Ranked

Him (2025)
A still from “Him” (2025)

Iโ€™m sorry, was that expression corny and awkward? Well, youโ€™re not going to find much variation in that regard across โ€œHim,โ€ as Tippingโ€”alongside co-writers Skip Bronkie and Zack Akersโ€”lets not a single chance pass by to infuse the film with an empty platitude about success and sacrifice, dipped in current parlance so stilted in its delivery that it already feels dated by the time any of these lines finish escaping from these drooling mouths. Virtually every word spoken here feels as though itโ€™s been uttered in at least five other sports filmsโ€”save for the flavor Wayans attempts to add with each colorful adjective thrown in front of an n-bombโ€”to the point where reading off bible quotes about shepherding the weak and โ€œan eye for an eyeโ€ would probably wind up giving the film more personality.

Not that Tipping doesnโ€™t make an effort to imbue his sophomore feature with some semblance of idiosyncrasy, primarily in the cultish depiction of Whiteโ€™s secluded desertscape and all the tattered football paraphernalia interspersed among Cadeโ€™s CTE- (and/or demon blood?)-induced hallucinations of figures dressed head-to-toe in pom-pom-ified viking gear. Despite these efforts, though, โ€œHimโ€ never escapes the realm of a kitschy Peele knockoff, borrowing all the puzzle pieces without any interest in assembling them into a greater image of its own design.

Perhaps this might be forgivable were โ€œHimโ€ anchored by the very sort of charismatic presences that might foster this fervent fanfareโ€”both in terms of the up-and-comer and his mentorโ€”but Withers and Wayans both prove woefully under-equipped to weaponize any form of charm that can be channeled into a killer spiral. In teasing the potential parallels in their journeys (the come-up vs the fight against waning relevance), Justin Tipping saddles us with such underdeveloped vessels that nothing more persistent than his overworked bromides ever manages to make their way through the huff-and-puff of an endurance test that finds no satisfactory soreness in its grueling workout.

Also Read: The Top 25 Best Sports Movies of All-Time

Him (2025) Movie Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia, Letterboxd
Him (2025) Movie Cast: Marlon Wayans, Tyriq Withers, Julia Fox, Tim Heidecker, Jim Jefferies
Him (2025) Movie Runtime:
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