This has been a pretty good year for horror films, as blockbusters like “Sinners” and “Weapons” have gotten stellar reviews from critics and have become box office hits over the past few weeks. Then there are movies like “Him.”
“Him” follows Cameron Cade, a promising young athlete, and his spiral into madness, when he gets the chance to train with his football idol, Isaiah White.
The acting was impeccable. Marlon Wayans and Tyriq Withers have really good chemistry throughout the film, perfectly displaying the uneasy relationship between student and mentor. Wayans is known for films like “White Chicks” and the “Scary Movie” franchise. He perfectly balances his usually comedic charm with a more serious, demented personality we rarely see in his films. Parts of “Him” like the X-ray scenes, the bizarre costumes of the crazed fans and the overall set design of the massive training compound in the desert, perfectly combined sports culture with surrealism.
As of now, “Him” is ranked the sixth highest grossing film this year, and yet moviegoers have shown mixed views on the film. So how can a film with so much hype behind it be so hated?
One reason is definitely the plot. The writers wanted the story to be disjointed to convey Cameron’s symptoms from his concussion. But it just is so focused on visuals that they completely forget about decent storytelling. The themes of toxic masculinity, obsession, and corporate exploitation are touched on in the first 20 minutes of the film, and then are never addressed again. Instead, the film takes its sweet time to fry your brain with the most obnoxious and repetitive visuals that I have ever seen. By the time you walk out of the theater, you will be wishing you had gotten a concussion instead of Cameron.
There is a lot wrong with “Him,” but the one thing that single-handedly destroyed it wasn’t even the film itself: it’s the marketing. Do you actually know who directed the film? I’ll give you a hint, it’s not Jordan Peele. The director is Justin Tipping. Never heard of him? Apparently nobody else has either. I watched a couple of his short films and they are really good. The only problem I have is that none of his films look like “Him.” The cinematography, visuals and themes are very common to find in a Peele film, but according to him, he didn’t make it. But they sure did make it their mission to put his name in big fat letters on all the advertisements.
I have a theory about this: Peele started making this film and midway through, he found out that what he was making was a piece of garbage. So, he decided to dump the project on some innocent director to take the blame and walk away with millions of dollars in revenue. The plan went smoothly and Peele gained another $3.6 million in his wallet.
Overall, the film will leave you feeling like an idiot for wasting money on a 96-minute seizure-fest. If anyone should be blamed, it should be the entirety of Monkeypaw Productions. They knew this film was terrible, so they took the safe route and put a famous director’s name to get a larger audience. Unfortunately, we all fell for it.
