HIM is a new psychological sports horror film due to release in theaters September 19th from Jordan Peele’s production company Monkeypaw Productions. Written by Skip Bronkie, Zack Akers, and Justin Tipping, and directed by Tipping, the film stars Marlon Wayans, Tyriq Withers, Julia Fox, Tim Heidecker, and Jim Jefferies. After suffering a potentially career-ending brain trauma, Cameron Cade receives a lifeline when his hero, legendary eight-time Championship quarterback and cultural megastar Isaiah White, offers to train Cam at Isaiah’s isolated compound that he shares with his celebrity influencer wife. But as Cam’s training accelerates, Isaiah’s charisma begins to curdle into something darker.

When you have Jordan Peele’s name attached to something like this, it’s easy to just say that this is indeed a Peele movie, even though he’s just a producer. Between the trailers and the overall concept, it makes sense why he would want to be involved with something like this. I’m a huge fan of Peele’s movies, but as a producer, I’m intrigued by what’s to come. Considering Peele’s next movie has just been indefinitely, I suppose I wouldn’t mind more movies like this that sort of replicate what Peele has mastered.

There’s a lot to take away from this film. It’s a big and bold swing that I think will pay off for viewers looking for entertainment value. It certainly gave my friend and I a lot to talk about afterwards that I even think went over my head. While I think another rewatch could help me better understand it, I’m also not interested in another watch.

Justin Tipping does a great job at bringing this story to life. I don’t know much about his work, but I could imagine him doing some work with music videos based on how visually engaging it is. I even wouldn’t mind seeing what he does next. The biggest problem, however, is that I could never tell how much he is trying to deliberately replicate. In a nutshell, this film is truly Get Out meets Whiplash. Pairing two perfect movies are key to success, but it doesn’t quite give Tipping the opportunity to showcase his vision other than what he can get out of the camera work and the performances.

Visually, I can’t say I’ve ever seen anything like this, especially this year. Tipping is saying a lot through the visuals that are meant to be open to interpretation. From the camera literally from the perspective of a head in a helmet to the way the bones of a body are shown, I admired what the film was doing. Tipping also does a great job at stage direction, filling up the entire screen with shocking reveals that had me locked in.

Marlon Wayans & Tyriq Withers are equally great. At times, I would say Wayans is the best performance of his career so far. I don’t think that should be much of a surprise as I find comedians transitioning quite easily into dramatic roles due to how committed they have to be to sell their performance. Withers shows promise as an up-and-coming actor. Highly recommend this to be the blueprint for his career over this year’s I Know What You Did Last Summer. The rest of the talent doesn’t quite stand out as well, especially Julia Fox. Outside of the two leads, the film struggles with knowing what to do with the rest of the talent.

The first act was onto something. I even found the jump scares to be more effective than Peele’s work, which says a lot. The momentum works in the second act, but you can see through the cracks. The characterization just isn’t there. Unless you care about football, there’s not much to care about. If I’m being quite honest, I’d even say there isn’t enough going on in the second act as it loses its focus on football and it never leans into its full potential of delivering more shock value.

The third act falls apart. It’s rushed, and the conclusion offers more entertainment value rather than delivering something hard-hitting. Just as I thought it was going in one direction, it goes in an obnoxious direction. I really thought it was going to end on a full circle amount. Instead, it loses all meaning. I get what it was trying to do, but based on the rest of the film, it makes no sense. It’s not justified. I guess the answer to violence is more violence?

Overall, I liked Him for what it was trying to do. It has more than enough of Peele’s directorial stamp to satisfy fans, but it’s nowhere near as thematically resonant as Peele’s work. Justin Tipping is on to something visually the two leads performances are top-notch, but the film could have been much better had it not tried to replicate perfection.

VERDICT: 3/5 (Good)