Horrorfest 2026: Him

HIM
Written by Skip Bronkie, Zack Akers and Justin Tipping

Directed by Justin Tipping

Starring Marlon Wayans, Tyriq Withers, Julia Fox and Tim Heidecker

USA, 2025

HIM is a horror movie about professional football, produced by Jordan Peele and starring Marlon Wayans. That sounded like a pretty interesting combination to me. Peele has been responsible for some of the best horror movies of recent years, and I’m always down for some Wayans.

Unfortunately, the movie is kind of a mess.

Tyriq Withers plays a promising young quarterback who's hoping to become the next big thing in professional football. After suffering a serious injury, he receives an invitation to train with his idol, a legendary quarterback on the verge of retirement, played by Marlon Wayans, at a secluded compound where the training methods are, shall we say, unconventional.

It quickly becomes apparent there’s more afoot here than improving this kid’s throwing arm. There's something sinister going on, involving strange rituals, physical abuse and an almost religious (or blasphemous?) devotion to football. The movie starts suggesting that success in professional sports might require sacrifices considerably greater than the ones we're accustomed to hearing about.

There's plenty of horror to be found in the way professional athletes are exploited. HIM seems like it wants to do something with that idea, but it doesn't get very far.

Instead, HIM throws a lot of flashy imagery at the screen. Some of it looks great, but after a while I started feeling like I was watching a collection of music videos loosely connected by a football-related premise. It's a lot of style over substance. Remember THE SUBSTANCE? Now that’s a movie.

It doesn't help that our main character is pretty empty. Withers is certainly convincing as an athlete, but there's not much personality there. Maybe that's intentional. Maybe the idea is that he's so completely devoted to football that he doesn't have much of an identity outside it. If so, that's an interesting concept, but it doesn't make him especially compelling to watch.

Wayans, on the other hand, is wonderful. He's clearly having a ball playing this guy, and I wish the rest of the movie were as entertaining as he is. I'd love to see him do more roles like this.