HIM
Genre: Horror
Directed by: Justin Tipping
Starring: Marlon Wayans, Tyriq Withers, Julia Fox
Release Date: September 19, 2025
Platform: Theaters
Star Rating: 4/5 stars
By Karl Simpson Jr.
“Every frame feels deliberate, haunting, and hypnotic.”
HIM is a film that left me both impressed and unsettled. Directed by Justin Tipping, it’s not horror in the traditional sense, but it thrives on unease, pulling you into a world where football isn’t a game; it’s a ritual. With standout performances from Tyriq Withers and Marlon Wayans, the film layers tension, style, and meaning into something disturbing enough to linger. It’s gripping, visually stunning, and bold, making it impossible to ignore.
The film centers on a young athlete invited to train with a legendary champion whose charisma curdles into something darker. From the start, Tipping builds tension piece by piece, never letting the pressure ease. Every frame feels deliberate, haunting, and hypnotic. The choice to keep the camera up close turns the sport into something invasive. Every hit, injection, and collision is felt because the film refuses to look away. Instead of the usual glossy spectacle, football becomes intimate and brutal, forcing the audience to sit in discomfort with no escape.
Tyriq Withers holds his own as the young athlete, but Marlon Wayans steals the show. His casting is spot-on. His natural comedic timing lets him play with menace in a way that’s funny, terrifying, and magnetic all at once. He walks that fine line where you’re unsure whether to laugh or recoil, making his presence electric in every scene. His performance alone gives the film a weight that’s hard to shake.
What makes HIM so effective is how it uses horror not as cheap thrills, but as a metaphor. The invasive physicals, the blood rituals, the endless drills; they’re not just unsettling images, they’re symbols of a culture that treats athletes as sacrifices. Horror thrives on exaggeration, on exposing what’s already frightening beneath the surface, and here it peels away the mask of glory to show the monstrous side of legacy and devotion. It’s less about the game itself and more about the system, a machine that convinces young men that pain equals greatness and that sacrifice is the only measure of worth.
The film digs into the way values get twisted when football isn’t just a sport but an altar. The familiar mantra of “God, family, football” gets inverted, placing the game above all else. Through metaphors of gladiatorial combat and false choice, HIM shows how easily freedom can become an illusion when the system demands everything. It’s a story about worship, exploitation, and the quiet horror of what happens when devotion to the game consumes everything in its path.
The final act leans into surrealism and symbolism, pushing the story into a space that feels more allegorical than literal. Not everyone will be on board. It’s messy, strange, and shocking. But for me, it worked. It felt like the natural breaking point of everything the film had been circling, a culmination of the sacrifices and illusions it was dissecting. It doesn’t need to tie everything neatly. Its power lies in how inevitable it feels.
HIM is a film that unsettles as much as it impresses. With Justin Tipping’s bold direction, Tyriq Withers anchoring the story, and Marlon Wayans delivering one of the most surprising performances of his career, it’s a movie that lingers. It’s not about football; it’s about the weight of legacy, the systems that exploit athletes, and the cost of devotion when sacrifice becomes the only currency. Disturbing, unforgettable, and visually arresting, HIM pushes sports into the realm of horror and forces us to see what’s lurking beneath the spectacle. It may not work for everyone, but for those willing to sit with the discomfort, it’s a striking, powerful experience.
