HIM
Forget them, Justin Tipping’s new horror film is worth watching.
by Tracie Reddick
Break a leg is a superstitious phrase that well wishers bestow upon theater members to offer good fortune before a show.
Isaiah (Marlon Wayans) literally does that in the opening scene of Him.
Performing in a football arena doubling as a world stage, he snaps his tibia bone, causing a seemingly career ending injury that actually turns out to be his lucky day.
It’s at this moment his destiny changes, allowing him to become the greatest of all time, or simply put, the next GOAT through a supernatural ritual passed on by an Illuminati-styled football league.
A second ceremony commences at the same time as Cameron (Austin Pilliam), a young boy who idolizes Isaiah is overcome by an unholy spirit, identifying him as the next successor, resulting in him testifying: I’m Him!
Fast forward 14 years later, and the prophecy becomes full circle as the now adult Cameron (Tyriq Withers), at the height of his career, is poised to replace Isaiah, who has lost his shine.
This changing of the guard sets the film’s tone, making it a relatable theme since success is a journey where most folks sacrifice something to reach their goals.
In that regard, football becomes a second string player more so than the main star as depicted in other sports horror films like, The Fan (1996), a baseball thriller featuring Wesley Snipes and football movies such as, The Faculty (1998) and Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003).
Directed by Justin Tipping, Him revolves around Cameron, an injured athlete whose invited to a training camp hosted by Isaiah and discovers the method to his idol’s madness is a sinister plot to steal his soul.
Big whoop, the movie wasn’t directed by Jordan Peele, who produced it.
Tipping still did a decent job considering he’s a Filipino guy tackling cultural themes relating to black and Native American cultures.
Perhaps that’s why the storytelling wasn’t succinct. But, if you listen to the words coming out of the mouths of the cast, they’re basically dropping clues to set up the plot.
Not to mention, the symbolism is pretty much spot-on — like The Last Supper scene — and doesn’t require a lot of guess work.
Still, to get the gist of the film, you do need to possess a basic understanding of football, Native American folklore and black history.
To help it make sense, allow me to connect the dots via my interpretation and breakdown of the movie.
- Native American History
Isaiah recants the true story of the Carlisle Indian School football players whose grid-iron grit caused the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to ban their moves, thus leveling the playing field for white athletes who were out maneuvered by their spiral throws and fake hand-offs.
It’s a forgotten legacy, resulting in the only widely known Native American link to the sport is its association with league mascots — much like the Wendigo figure representing in the film’s fictional team.
According to Native American folklore, the Wendigo is a mythical creature known for its speed, strength and desire to prey upon people who are socially isolated from other communities. Or, in this case, it’s a metaphor for disenfranchised minority youth who are lured by agents promising them fame and fortune.
Wendigo’s obtain their power by devouring the flesh and blood of their victims, hence the ritualistic transfusions, which is a historic reference to the medical experimentation on black folks.
Another reference to Native Americans are the filtered scenes where the cast appear to have red skin, which is a derogatory cultural reference.
And the ending would have made more sense if the story did a better job at weaving in the Wendigo legend, with the unseen entity claiming the owner as its next sacrifice.
With the Wendigo legend at his fingertips, Tipping dropped the ball since he had all the trappings for a great horror story at his disposal.
- Becky With the Good Hair
Another misstep was downplaying the role of Elsie (Julia Fox), who is clearly the she-devil running the show.
Elsie is a name associated with a cow, which is a sacred animal that is worshipped in some cultures, much like the devil.
Another clue that she is the evil one is the huge portrait of her at the entrance of the horn-shaped compound.
In addition, she had a book of the dead, lingers around Cameron, dropping hints like “transitions of power are never peaceful.”
Her character looks like a cross between Michael Jackson and a mannequin, giving her a ghostly image that pales in terms of her bland performance.
I love a female villain but Elsie didn’t have the same mystique of Satan (Jenny O’Hara) in M. Knight Shyamalan’s Devil (2010). Again, that’s due to the poor storytelling.
Instead, Tipping turned her into the bumbling, blonde bimbo trope that always ends up getting her throat cut — only this time, its by her own hands.
- Good verses Evil
What Tipping did do well, was create a spark that ignited between Cameron and Isaiah, leading to an ultimate showdown, which to me, was reminiscent of the battle fought by the angels Michael and Gabriel in Legion (2010).
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Plus, they represent the duality of life: young/old; student/teacher; good/evil, alpha/omega, and to an extent, black/white.
Yet, they are also two sides of the same coin, hence Isaiah’s jersey was #10. He is viewed as #1, or the goat, whereas Cameron wore the number zero, which is the totality of all things. When placed together, they make up the #10.
- Marlon Wayans is Him
Whether you love or hate the film, you gotta give credit where its due. No doubt about it, when it comes to the portrayal of Isaiah, Marlon did that.
He took the Wendigo by the horns, much like his brother Damon, transformed into the diabolical, black racist in Spike Lee’s Bamboozled (2000), delivering a dramatic role equal to his excellent performance in Requiem of a Dream (2000)
Marlon created a devilish yet accurate depiction of what happens to folks, in any career, whose self-worth is bound to public applause. When the limelight fades, they continue to crave the spotlight, chasing it like an insatiable drug.
That’s why Isaiah envies Cameron’s raw talent that hasn’t been tainted by performance enhancing drugs, making it clear he is after his youth, much like most cults they prey upon youngsters to obtain power.
Isaiah compares him and Cameron to modern day Gladiators, noting only one of them will emerge victoriously from the training compound, setting the scene for their titanic clash.
On the flip-side, Tipping touches on the colorism theme, making the dark-skinned Isaiah the embodiment of evil.
He bears the mark of the beast, a football shaped scar on his temple since that’s the only thing that matters in his life. There’s even a poster where he is depicted in the center of a goal post that sticks out of his head like horns.
In another shot, Isaiah’s rings are the upside down spelling of boss, signifying the backwards thinking that he’s the head nigger in charge when the owners are the true shot callers.
- Cameron
It’s not clear, but I think Cameron’s father is supposedly Native American. If not, he’s still bi-racial, thus keeping with the colorism theme depicting light-skinned blacks as saintly.
Although he can’t be characterized as the Great White Hope, his biracial heritage makes him the next best thing, thus returning the game back to its former glory since quarterbacks were once white-only positions. It’s another full circle moment since Cameron would join the growing ranks of Polynesian players favored by NFL owners.
Like Isaiah, Cameron is also marked by the beast as depicted by the stitches on his head, detailing his path to greatness is unclear. He has the grit, doesn’t want the glory and is he unwilling to sell his soul for the sake of the game.
This rejection is shown when he vomits diamonds and gold chains, which is what African tribal leaders were given in exchange for slaves and now flaunted as trappings of success by black entertainers and athletes.
Like most folks joining a club or hired for a job, there is an initiation process similar to the training camp hazing Cameron endures. To test his mettle, he is given a number of temptations, including a vision quest in the desert that’s part of the Native American rites of passage into manhood and includes wild hallucenations.
- Idol Worship
The Lord is a jealous God, which is why those who worship false idols eventually feel his wrath.
Unlike a lot of critics, I thought it was quite fitting that Isaiah would watch tapes of fans worshipping him on a ceiling monitor shaped like an eyeball.
It was a brilliant representation of the all-seeing eye looking down on Isaiah looking up at Elohim, a biblical reference to the almighty God.
Fans in this film were basically Isaiah’s minions, willing to do his dirty work, which is why the crazy female stalker attacked Cameron.
There seemed to be a reverse obsession between Isaiah and this woman, who at one point is dressed like Little Red Riding Hood, turning Isaiah into a wolf or beast. That’s why after he chokes her, he sits remorsefully on the floor, atoning for his sin.
Meanwhile, Cameron, who is light, bright and damn near white sorta gets away with his bloody rampage in the over-the-top ending that seems to be the current trend in horror given the outlandish final moments of films like The Substance (2024), The Other (2025) and 28 Years Later (2025).
In this case, the uprising in at the end made the film is not only divisive but downright jarring, resulting in the typical Internet backlash reserved for black creators. Cases in point: An Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (2023), Blink Twice (2024), Opus (2025) and Run (2025).
Although it’s common for black folks to get murdered in brutal acts of violence in horror films, America is still not ready to see black men inflicting pain on whites in any scenario.
Nevertheless, as more black filmmakers enter the horror genre, its a reckoning, or reconciliation, on its way to becoming a reality.
Despite its flaws, I thought Him was a good movie with awesome special effects, that included an x-ray vision of two skulls colliding like the explosive head-butting of two battling rams.
I’m a sucker for cinematography and also found the imagery interesting, particularly the Native American tapestry melting into the floor like a Salvadore Dali painting, taking root like a demonic tree of life.
Next to it was an image of a dark figure emerging from a black inkblot above similar red and green splotches. Those are the liberating colors of Africa representing the skin and blood of the people who are children of the soil/land.
Iif I had to compare Him to another film it would probably be Hunger, a 2023 Thai film streaming on Netflix directed by Sitisiri Mongkolsiri.
Instead of the football arena, it’s set in the world of fine dining and revolves around a ruthless chef who becomes jealous of the street cook he mentors, resulting in greed corrupting both their paths to greatness.
Wait. Scratch that. On second thought, it feels more like a rip-off of The Perfection (2019), another Netflix film.
Directed by Richard Shepard, the movie follows a former child prodigy who stalks her mentor’s new protege.
Although its set in the classical musical world, Him follows Shepard’s story format, breaking the movie down in story chapters, includes trippy imagery, explores cult/religious themes and centers on two people willing to do anything to become the best at their craft.
And oh yeah, it stars Allison Williams of Peele’s Get Out (2017), once again stalking a black genius. Just saying.
