Check it out in theaters. It’s not for everyone.
I’m not a sports guy and I really don’t care for football. After finishing Him, the latest release from Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions, it’s quite clear that neither the writers nor the director of the movie are as well.
There, I said it.
Save all your criticism and piles of negative reviews. It boils down to just as simple as that. Now, I enjoyed the surrealistic look at the American football league being more like a cult in which you sign your life away, but it’s pretty clear from the hundreds of reviews, the critics fumbled, not the filmmakers. Aside from getting a number of things factually incorrect, the movie is heavily influenced by the works of Alejandro Jodorowsky, Stanley Kubrick and the 1990 film Jacob’s Ladder. Director Justin Tipping strikes me as a kind of guy who discovers an artist, loves their work and wants to put his own spin on it. Isn’t that what being creative is? Influences. Kubrick’s The Shining received tons of bad criticism when it was released in 1980; Jodorowsky hasn’t found his crowd in nearly 60 years of filmmaking and Ladder still haunts audiences 35 years later. Take a guess where I think Him will land in the future.
Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans) and Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers)
Ever since Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers, personal note: I’ve worked with him on a Hulu show and found him to be quite the gentleman) was a child, his father drilled into his head that Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans) was the greatest of all time (GOAT). While watching the Super Bowl, White has a career crushing injury, but that didn’t prevent Cade from wanting to be just like his hero.
About 20 years later, Cade is slowly becoming the next big name in football and White has come back into the limelight because of his camp that allows players to prove they are the GOAT. While practicing before going to the camp, Cade is clubbed in the head by a fan and this takes him out, very much like White. However, Cade’s manager Tom (Tim Heidecker) has some news: Pack your bags because you’re going to White’s camp! Head injury be damned.
But, there’s something off about this camp. Yeah, it’s grueling, he’s pushed to his limits and begs for mercy, but this camp seems like it’s structured in a way to break and rebuild in another image. Perhaps something larger than life and the universe itself. Elsie (Julia Fox), Isaiah’s wife, seems like she has a screw loose, but the whole camp does too. In the world of insanity, can we trust our own judgement?
Cade is about to have a very bad headache.
Writers Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie, the geniuses behind the podcast radio drama “Limetown”, co-wrote with director Tipping a rather bland script to be broken down and rebuilt into a dark horrific masterpiece of modern cinema. The duo know how to keep the audience on edge as a story, but the tiniest of details that make the movie work such as the fans being seen as the enemy. They are here to cheer Cade on and without them he is nothing. But, does Cade want to be something?
It’s not a surprise that Him is receiving so much pushback. The movie is made for people who have seen Ken Russell’s The Devils or who can speak fluent Ingmar Bergman. Have you heard of Eyes of Fire, Les Îles or El Topo? Most of the negative reviews are from people who missed these movies because they were on the field. Guessing by Tipping’s website, he’s either a hell of a troll or just doesn’t care enough to make his portfolio look updated beyond the year 2000. Either way, I understood the references and maybe Him is beyond its time, although they said the same thing in 1973 with The Holy Mountain and folks still don’t get it.
Naomi Grossman playing Marjorie, Cade’s number 1 fan.
The average person isn’t going to understand this flick. Why should they? We have the third Superman reboot in 20 years and two Spider-Man reboots to stare at and say “Cool.” Nosferatu made its way into pop culture last year because of the advertising (does anyone else have their sarcophagus popcorn tin?) and everyone was hot to see what they thought was going to be a regular vampire movie. It felt nice to go to a movie for adults.
Is there room for arthouse football-themed horror? I like to think so.
(PS – The original title was GOAT, which would have been a way better title after seeing this.)
Him is now playing in theaters
Director: Justin Tipping
Writers: Zack Akers, Skip Bronkie and Justin Tipping
Starring: Tyriq Withers, Marlon Wayans
Genre: Horror/surrealistic horror
Rating: R
Runtime: 96 mins
Classic American Movies 
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