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HIM Review: American Football Goes Psychological Horror

HIM turns a quarterback’s career hopes into stylized psychological horror. Critics noted its striking premise and visuals, but questioned its blunt themes and scattered story.
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HIM turns a quarterback’s pursuit of a professional career into a stylized horror story about ambition and hero worship. Its premise and visual approach have drawn notice from critics, though several found the film’s argument too blunt or its story hard to follow.

What is HIM about?

Rising quarterback Cameron Cade, played by Tyriq Withers, suffers a potentially career-ending head injury shortly before the professional scouting combine. His childhood idol, veteran quarterback Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), offers to train him at an isolated compound. The mentorship grows disturbing as Isaiah’s charisma takes on a sinister edge. Universal Pictures’ synopsis sets up a sports relationship that becomes coercive and uncanny; the film’s story is fictional, not medical evidence about head injuries.

Director and co-writer Justin Tipping uses football training, bodily horror, and surreal imagery to frame questions about ambition, sacrifice, fame, and the cultural elevation of elite quarterbacks. The central tension is whether that expressionistic approach makes the critique more unsettling—or makes its point too blunt to sustain the story.

Is HIM a horror movie?

Yes. It is a football-centered horror thriller rather than a conventional sports drama. Football supplies the world and the pressure to succeed, while the film’s isolated setting and increasingly surreal horror carry much of the storytelling. Viewers looking for realistic team dynamics or a sports competition narrative may find less of that than they expect.

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#1 Best Overall

Its creative team includes Tipping, co-writers Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie, and producer Jordan Peele. The principal cast also includes Julia Fox, Tim Heidecker, and Jim Jefferies. The official credits are listed by Universal Pictures.

What did critics think of HIM?

Reviewers recognized the premise and visual style but disagreed about how well the film develops its ideas. The Associated Press’s Jake Coyle saw a worthwhile point about quarterback hero worship and praised the film’s style, but argued that the message is repeated and the confined setting makes the satire feel tedious. His assessment: “But Jets fan or not, ‘Him’ has a decent point to make about QB hero worship.” Coyle’s AP review.

Andrew Lawrence, reviewing for The Guardian, called the critique unsubtle and increasingly meaningless while noting the film’s visual choices and supporting cast. The Guardian review. Amy Nicholson of the Los Angeles Times praised Jordan Ferrer’s production design but questioned the story’s coherence and Cameron’s characterization. The Los Angeles Times review.

Taken together, those responses suggest a film whose strongest appeal is its collision of football celebrity and stylized horror, not a tightly plotted or subtle sports satire. Whether that trade-off works depends on how much you value visual invention and thematic directness over narrative clarity.

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Quick Recap

Bestseller No. 1
Bestseller No. 2
Bestseller No. 3
Get Him to The Greek [Blu-ray]
Get Him to The Greek [Blu-ray]
Deleted And Extended Scenes; Alternate Intro: The Castle; Alternate Ending: Riding Daphne; Feature Commentary With Cast And Crew
$13.11
Bestseller No. 4
Bestseller No. 5
Why Him? [Blu-ray]
Why Him? [Blu-ray]
The disk has English audio.
$17.81
Best Value
Why Him? [Blu-ray]
  • The disk has English audio.
Rank #3
Get Him to The Greek [Blu-ray]
  • Deleted And Extended Scenes
  • Alternate Intro: The Castle
  • Alternate Ending: Riding Daphne
  • Feature Commentary With Cast And Crew
  • Full Music Videos And Concert Performances
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Runtime, rating, and home viewing

  • Runtime: 96 minutes, according to Universal Pictures Home Entertainment’s release announcement.
  • Rating: R for strong bloody violence, language throughout, sexual material, nudity, and some drug use, as reproduced in Universal’s announcement from the Motion Picture Association rating.
  • Formats: Universal announced digital purchase and rental, as well as 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD editions. Its October 6, 2025 announcement gave November 11, 2025 as the physical-edition street date. Check a retailer’s current listing for availability, region, and edition details. The announcement also listed bonus features for participating digital purchases and physical editions; included extras can depend on the format and seller. Universal’s home-entertainment announcement.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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