movie review: him (2025)

⭐✨

I’ll cut straight to it: Justin Tipping’s HIM had potential. The setup is eerie with Tyriq Withers who plays Cam Cade, a promising young quarterback whose life takes a sinister turn when his idol, Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), invites him to train at an isolated compound. As training intensifies, the atmosphere warps and Isaiah’s charisma becomes deeply unsettling.

What works:

🏈Marlon Wayans gives it his all and his presence carries weight, even when the rest of the film flounders.
🏈The premise has teeth: blending sports ambition with supernatural, even touching on religious, dread is a daring idea.
🏈Some visual and tonal touches hit where moments of atmosphere and unease land here and there.

What doesn’t work:

🐐The narrative is disjointed and messy, often confusing rather than compelling.
🐐Secondary characters; Cam’s family, Isiah’s wife, other characters I can’t even remember, lack depth, and the emotional stakes feel under-cooked.
🐐The film leans too hard on style over substance; many scenes feel more aesthetic than actually meaningful.
🐐The ending, while ambitious, is so ambiguous that it leaves more frustration than awe.

Final thoughts:

HIM is a jarring mix of promise and overreach. It flirts with something dark and unnerving, but rarely commits. Wayans’s performance is a highlight, but it’s not enough to salvage a film that keeps dropping the ball.