Film Review: Him

Welcome back to the blog readers. As you know by now, I have not an extensive one, but I do have a history with horror films. And I can say that 2025 has been the best year for horror I have ever seen as a budding fan of cinema. We have had some stumbles over the last few weeks, but the major wins we have had in this year are too great to gloss over. Would this film be one of the greats or just another stumble? Stick around to find out.

Him was directed by Justin Tipping from a screenplay by Tipping, Skip Bronkie, and Zack Akers. The film stars Marlon Wayans, Tyriq Withers, Julia Fox, Tim Heidecker, and Jim Jeffries. In the film, an up-and-coming star quarterback accepts a mentoring session with his soon-to-be retiring idol, only to find that not everything at his compound is as it seems when disturbing events begin to occur.

Being a massive fan of football definitely had me intrigued in this film from when I heard about it. A sports film that has horror tropes sprinkled throughout? There was reason for me to be excited for it...until I saw the reviews for the film. To be honest, I was a little unnerved seeing those negative reviews but I wavered in my interest in this film. And this film...just is. I didn't hate the film, but I did not love the film. The performances of Tyriq Withers and Marlon Wayans were fantastic, but the story, script, and pacing were all not worthy of the same hype.

I want to start by talking about the performance of young Tyriq Withers. Withers has not been in many things in his young career, especially because he is the same age as I am, but I was not familiar with his game in all honesty. Which is why I was delighted to see him deliver such a phenomenal performance as Cameron Cade. There is a nuance to his performance that I really liked seeing from him. When he is tasked with being subtle, he can do that with the insane charisma that I can sense. When he is able to let loose and unleash the crazy, he does that insanely well also. I am interested in seeing more out of this kid because he can have a legendary career if given the right opportunities.

Next up, I need to talk about the performance of Marlon Wayans. You may know Marlon as one of the pillars of the Wayans family, a group of comedian brothers that have given us hits like White Chicks (2004) and the Scary Movie (2000-) franchise. He has sprinkled in some drama roles in his career, but never have I seen him in a horror film. And for his first one, he absolutely murdered it. Not only does Wayans bring in his veteran status for this film, but he also brings in a level of tenacity that I cannot get enough of. Like with the performance of Withers, Wayans knows when to bring the cool charismatic quarterback he embodies. But when he brings the fire, it is electric and the best parts of this film by far.

Unfortunately, that is where the positives of this film end. The performances save this film from being terrible, but one of the things I really question in this film is the story. On paper, if I am a studio head, that pitch is getting this film greenlit. An up-and-coming quarterback goes to train with his mentor and discovers sinister things happening? That would sell anywhere. But the execution is less-than-stellar, and it really falls flat on its face. Some questionable choices are made in the final 30 minutes of the film that really take away any of the reputation the performances had earned it.

And that takes me to my next point: criticizing the script. The fact that this film only touches on the main themes of fame and sacrifice is pretty sacrilegious, since that should be a day one slam dunk (or touchdown if you want to get literal). The fact that the writers fumbled the themes and even the big reveal at the end (which left me scratching my head more than a pesky itch) makes me mad, because like I mentioned in the earlier paragraphs, I wanted to like this film very much. It just sucks that great performances from the leads were wasted on something that had so little substance to it.

In conclusion, Him wastes revelatory performances from Marlon Wayans ad Tyriq Withers on a story that does not get as deep as it really should get. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.