What would you sacrifice to become the greatest of all time?  In HIM, we meet Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers), a young man raised in a football-loving family, and groomed to be a phenomenal player with a bright future.  Just as things are looking good for him, Cameron is attacked while training, leaving him with a traumatic head injury that makes his pursuits questionable.  He receives an offer to be paired with Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), considered by many to be one of the most successful and talented players in the league, and who is now tasked to train Cameron to potentially take his place.  White is so popular, he has his own cult that hang around his training facility, and they don’t take kindly to visitors.  The training regime is filled with questionable tactics that seem anything but safe, and other eccentric characters get in the mix, like Isaiah’s narcissistic influencer girlfriend Elsie (Julia Fox of UNCUT GEMS) and his resident medic (Jim Jeffries).  It isn’t long before Cameron must wonder what he’s really got himself into.

HIM is absolutely a football-themed horror movie, but at its core it is more of a commentary on the price of fame, and what people are willing to do to be the very best.  It could almost be a commentary on head injuries too, particularly the CTE controversy, though the head injury subplot never seems to lead anywhere. As the story unfolds, and things get progressively weirder, the audience is left to assume what all of this is building to.  Withers does his best as the film’s lead, and does seem to fit the role quite well, but when Marlon Wayans is on screen it’s hard to focus on anything else.  I’ve always felt Wayans was really good in serious roles when given the opportunity, and this is a performance that shows just how powerful and engaging he can be.  He’s so good that he outshines pretty much everyone else on screen, and the sequences he’s absent for almost suffer for it.  Julia Fox is interesting as Isaiah’s influencer girlfriend, but is used so sparingly that it’s easy to forget about her when she’s gone.  Jim Jeffries sheds his comedy chops here playing the conflicted medic who may be one of the only good people among several with questionable morals. Tim Heidecker also has a small role as Cameron’s publicist/manager, who like many in the film seems more concerned with potential fame than true success.

The movie is directed by Justin Tipping (DEAR WHITE PEOPLE), who gives the production a stylish and slick look and feel, and it makes it interesting to watch, even if what’s happening on screen isn’t all that exciting at times.  But while the first hour or so of the film is quite engaging, the final act tries so hard to ramp things up for a big shocking finish, it just ends up feeling messy and confusing.  The payoff feels rushed and unearned, which is a shame, as there was definite potential in the narrative to make an impression and really say something.

The run time is short, just over 90 minutes, and I really feel like there was opportunity here to flesh out some of the themes better.  And when it ends, it just ends, with no real follow up or resolve.  There’s absolutely promise here as a cautionary tale regarding the pursuit of fame, and it’s the kind of story that could pretty much focus on any form of celebrity – you could almost make this same movie with Hollywood as a backdrop, or the music industry… but it needed more polish to work properly, and the end result is just sleek but forgettable.  I can see why Jordan Peele saw promise in the concept, but the end result fails to leave much of an impression.  Aside from an excellent performance from Wayans that almost saves it, HIM never quite reaches its own potential, which I suppose is ironic in a movie that’s all about wanting to be the best.

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