Warning: This article contains spoilers for HIM.
While Jordan Peele did not write or direct the film HIM, his involvement as a producer often draws significant fan attention. However, this particular psychological football horror project, despite being Peele-produced, appears to be falling short of audience expectations. Although it leads other new releases at the weekend box office with estimated earnings between $15 and $18 million, HIM currently holds disappointing critic and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes.
Justin Tipping (known for Kicks) directed and co-wrote HIM, which features Kelvin Harrison Jr. in the role of Cameron Cade, an emerging quarterback sensation. Cade dreams of emulating his deceased father’s idol, Isaiah White (portrayed by Marlon Wayans), an eight-time champion quarterback for the San Antonio Saviors and a professional league legend. Yet, the night before the USFF (the film’s fictional equivalent of the NFL) annual scouting combine, Cam sustains a severe head injury that jeopardizes his career. Consequently, he must demonstrate his capability for the Saviors’ QB1 position during an intensive week-long training camp. This camp is conducted by a semi-retired Isaiah at his secluded private estate, where he lives with his influencer spouse, Elsie (Chanté Adams).
Throughout the week, as the physical and psychological challenges grow more intense, Cam starts to discern a sinister undercurrent to Isaiah’s guidance. When the inevitable, violent confrontation between them occurs, HIM becomes a stark critique of the inherent pressures and political maneuvering within the professional football world.
“The game itself is just that—a game. It possesses the capacity for joy and beauty, among other qualities,” Tipping explained to The Hollywood Reporter. “Whether it’s boxing, free solo rock climbing, or anything similar, people will pursue these endeavors despite understanding the inherent dangers. That is human nature. However, it is the surrounding business operations that become truly insidious.”
Following a deadly duel with Isaiah, orchestrated to establish the definitive GOAT, or “Him,” Cam exits the training facility to find the Saviors’ owners, his agent Tom (Tim Heidecker), and Elsie awaiting him in an arena, ready for him to sign a team contract. It is then revealed that this contract is a Faustian bargain, enabling a secretive group of wealthy, elderly team executives to supernaturally transfer the “Him” power via the lineage of the Saviors’ star player of the moment.
Furthermore, it comes to light that the owners orchestrated Cam’s initial attack and had been preparing him as Isaiah’s successor since his childhood. The revelation also suggests Cam’s father had consented to these conditions, and it’s implied his death was engineered to pressure Cam into remaining in football after his attempt to leave the sport years earlier.
Nevertheless, Cam rejects the dictates of the USFF’s influential figures, refusing to forfeit his soul by signing the agreement. Instead, he unleashes his formidable power upon all participants in the unholy ritual, resulting in an extremely violent rampage. This action, at least, puts an end to this corrupt faction of league officials profiting from the exploitation of athletes’ bodies.
“I shared with the producers my fascination with exploring the consequences if we framed this as a Faustian cautionary narrative,” Tipping recounted to The Hollywood Reporter. “When an athlete is reduced to a commodity, merely a physical presence for an institution, what if that serves as the true horror? What if we push that concept to its ultimate limits?”
