Him

Grade: C+

To borrow some adjectives from the title of the other big film that opened this weekend, Him wants to be a big bold journey. It swings for the fences with imagery as disturbing as it is shallow, under-explained, and under-developed. Some of it is neat to look at, but I’d tell director Justin Tipping “You can do all that with a camera. Great. Go direct a music video or something.”

Him opens with a family of football fanatics watching their beloved Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans). He wins the game, but gets a gruesome injury, with a bone sticking out, that I’m surprised was shown so much on live TV. At the forefront, taking it all in, is young Cameron Cade. Cut to more than a decade later, with adult Cameron played by Tyriq Withers – a veteran of reboots such as Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead and I Know What You Did Last Summer.

One night, after hours, while practicing on the field by himself (he thinks), Cam gets hit in the head. An unidentifiable person dressed head-to-toe in a cumbersome goat costume somehow manages to sneak up behind him and knock him out. The head injury is the kind that needs staples. There’s a theme of toxic masculinity that’s pounded into him, both from his father in the early scene, and by Isaiah, whose wing he is taken under. No pain, no gain, real men are willing to make sacrifices, etc.

Cam’s agent reveals that Isaiah is looking at retirement, and is inviting Cam to train with him for a week to see if he has what it takes to be his successor. Cam readily accepts, as it seems like the opportunity of a lifetime. Isaiah’s place is insanely nice, and extremely remote, in the middle of the desert. Training is intense, to make the understatement of the year. Isaiah has a mentality, and teaching style, similar to the band director in Whiplash. Suffer for your art/the game/etc.

The movie is a shallow, unoriginal retread. The most fun you’ll have is if you play the “Guess the Influence” game. The cast does their best. 25 years after Requiem for a Dream, Wayans once again shows us he can be an effective dramatic actor. Withers is a fine leading man who can carry a movie. I hope he can break out of the legacyquel cycle. As Wayans’s wife, Julia Fox (Night Always Comes, Presence, Uncut Gems) makes the most out of what little she is given to do. The home, rituals, camera work, and hidden ulterior motives are straight out of Saltburn and Get Out. You should just watch those instead of Him.

The last scene sure looks cool, but absolutely crumbles under scrutiny. There’s no regard for what would happen next. We get answers, reasons, and explanations for everything that happened up until then. It’s far-fetched, but hey, it’s a movie, I’ll grant all of this. But there’s the old “what now?” question. Him is empty and derivative. It’s a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Nothing original, anyway.

Grade: C+