The sports horror film, starring Tyriq Withers and Marlon Wayans, is a stylish play that ends up fumbling the ball.
A psychological horror movie set in the fanatical world of professional American football wasn’t on my cinema bingo card this year, but “Him” is exactly that.
It’s an intriguing concept: The brutality of football — of a system that destroys young men’s bodies and minds for our barbaric viewing pleasure — dovetails nicely with the terrifying pressure of success, of losing yourself to the expectations of others. Throw in some zealousness that borders on religious — not unlike real-life football — and you have something promisingly unique.
It’s a shame, then, that the second feature from Justin Tipping (“Kicks”) feels more like a hyper-stylistic fever dream than anything narratively compelling.
“Him,” from a script by Skip Bronkie, Zack Akers and Tipping, opens with a young boy eagerly watching a game with his football-obsessed family. Their emotional investment in the outcome is palpable: They’re rooting for the San Antonio Saviors and their star quarterback, Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans). Flash forward, and that little boy, Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers), is a star college QB himself, while Isaiah’s status has grown to mythic proportions. He’s an eight-time world champion, the GOAT.
But before Cam can get his shot in the combine, he’s attacked and left with a major head injury. Keep playing football, his doctor tells him, and he risks making it far worse. As luck would have it, Isaiah wants to train Cam at his private compound. But what begins as a godsend descends into violent, bloody madness.
The problem is, “Him” never explores the causes of that madness. It steps right up to some heavy topics — the destructive masculinity that can lead men to terrible outcomes, the physiological damage that football inflicts, the power imbalance between black players and white team owners — but then dodges away. There are conversations — well, more like drill sergeant-like screams — about what you have to give up to be the best, but they come across as obvious and superficial. When the situation gets weird in the back half, with talks of rituals and blood and what may be satanic imagery, it comes with no explanation at all.
Even the focus on religion, a theme “Him” returns to multiple times with the subtlety of a hammer, doesn’t amount to much. It’s baffling, if for no other reason than the film takes pains to remind of you of it: Cam’s ever-present and always-visible cross, which he got from his father; an interview session that resembles the Last Supper. The symbolism between football and religion is so transparent, so heavy-handed, it might as well be parody.
But what “Him” lacks in narrative it makes up for in visual style. Clearly, cinematographer Kira Kelly was told to have fun because “Him” is a riot of unsettling color palettes and creepy focal points. It also lacks subtly — a football poised as a missile, a figure just out of sight — but it’s genuinely the best part of the movie.
Not to say that Wayans and Withers don’t do their parts; it’s just that the script doesn’t give them much to work with. Withers possesses a star athlete’s charisma, a winning trait here, and stands out more than he did in July’s “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” But Cam’s motivations are shallow, and he often feels one-dimensional. Wayans’ Isaiah, on the hand, is more fleshed out, unhinged and basically taunting Cam to understand what he’s saying (again, no subtlety here). The performance veers too close to cartoonishly manic sometimes, but there’s still enough unsettling aggression that it works.
In the end, “Him” feels like an interception rather than a touchdown. It’s not hard to envision a future with more of this fusion of horror and sports, and perhaps the next movie will be more captivating, say, like watching the GOAT in his prime. But with its style-over-substance approach and inexplicable narrative, “Him” isn’t that GOAT. It was barely even the right play.
Two “This is why people want to ban tackle football” stars out of five.
Photo caption: Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans, left) and Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers) in “Him,” directed by Justin Tipping. (Courtesy of Universal Pictures)
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