Here Is Our Honest Rating On The Movie HIM

Since the Final Destination franchise ended, Hollywood has been starving for something weird, gory, and unapologetically sinister. So, when HIM hit the cinemas on September 19, 2025, it didn’t come quietly. It came like a storm, with every intent to freak people out and remind us what true psychological horror looks like.

Directed by Justin Tipping, HIM isn’t your regular horror film. It’s dark, unflinching, and disturbingly personal. It digs into the human obsession with greatness, fame, and what it means to sacrifice yourself for glory. The script, co-written by Zack Akers, Skip Bronkie, and Tipping, feels like it was made to unsettle you on purpose.

If you’re walking into HIM, leave your comfort zone behind. Bring your heart along because you’ll need it. This isn’t the kind of movie that lets you watch in peace. It grabs your nerves, twists them, and asks questions you’d rather not answer.

Premise

At the center of HIM is Cameron Cade, a young Black American football prodigy who grew up in a family that practically worships the game. His father, a man with more faith in football than God, is determined to make his son the next “GOAT” Greatest of All Time.

As a child, Cam idolized Isaiah White, a superstar quarterback for the San Antonio Saviors. Watching Isaiah score the winning touchdown in the league championship should’ve been a dream come true. But when Isaiah suffers a horrific injury in the process, Cam’s excitement turns to shock. His father, undeterred, tells him that real men make sacrifices and that one day, he too will face his moment of truth.

Years later, after his father’s death, Cam Cade is now a rising football star. His girlfriend and family push him to chase the big leagues, but fate takes a cruel twist. One night, while practicing alone, Cam is attacked by someone wearing a mascot costume. The assault leaves him with a serious head injury, the kind that puts both his health and his career on the line.

Months pass, and Cade’s passion for football begins to fade. His recovery is slow, his dreams uncertain. His agent, Tom, tries to push him back into the game, promising a comeback that could change everything. He eventually hooks Cade up with Isaiah, who wants to personally train him for a week at a remote desert compound. He takes the offer, unaware he’s walking into something far darker than a training camp.

From the first day, Isaiah’s “training” feels off. It’s violent, almost ritualistic. Cade is subjected to twisted drills, machines slamming footballs into his face, headbutting another player until he’s disfigured, and injections of mysterious “energy boosters” that turn out to be Isaiah’s own blood.

Cade’s hallucinations grow worse. Masked figures follow him. Reality blurs. And when he tries to escape, Isaiah kills Marjorie without emotion, as if it were just another drill. Isaiah’s wife, Elsie, later seduces Cade into a bizarre party filled with fame-obsessed guests, where things spiral even deeper into madness.

The next day, Isaiah confronts Cade with a gun, accusing him of sleeping with Elsie. Cade denies it, only for Isaiah to mock his morality, saying winners never feel guilty. From there, things grow increasingly nightmarish. The “training” becomes a cult-like ritual where Isaiah claims that every true GOAT gains his power through blood transfusions, passing strength, fame, and rage from one player to another.

The film builds up to a bloody showdown between mentor and student, where both men must fight to the death. Cade has to choose between survival and becoming the next Isaiah, a decision that could seal his fate forever.

Cast and Performance

Marlon Wayans as Isaiah White

Let’s be honest: no one expected Marlon Wayans to deliver this kind of performance. We’ve seen him as the funny guy, the goofball, the one cracking jokes in horror parodies. But here, he’s terrifying. There’s a coldness in his stare that makes Isaiah White feel larger than life, a man consumed by fame and power.

Wayans carries himself with a mix of arrogance and tragedy. His rage feels earned, his control obsessive. Every time he appears, the atmosphere tightens. He makes Isaiah believable as both a hero and a monster. This is easily one of the best performances of his career, haunting, grounded, and deeply unsettling.

Tyriq Withers as Cameron Cade

Tyriq Withers gives Cade the emotional depth the story needs. He starts off quiet and uncertain, the kind of athlete molded by pressure and expectation. But as HIM unfolds, you see his transformation, from naive dreamer to someone staring into the face of madness.

What I like about Tyriq’s performance is how internal it feels. He doesn’t scream or overact; he lets the fear sit in his silence. You can see the exhaustion, the anger, and the confusion in his eyes. The more he loses his grip on reality, the more you realize how broken he’s become.

Julia Fox as Elsie White

Julia Fox’s presence is chaotic in the best way. She plays Elsie like a walking warning sign, seductive, dangerous, and unpredictable. She’s the kind of woman who looks at power and wants to taste it, she had brief scenes that were very explosive, and every time she appears, something strange happens.

Elsie represents everything corrupt about fame: the lust, the performance, the emptiness behind the glamour.

What I Liked

I love how HIM doesn’t hide from the dark reality of sports culture. The opening scene had me hooked. It’s disturbing in all the right ways; it feels like a fever dream that won’t let you wake up. It has a tight pacing that builds tension naturally, and every scene leaves something behind, a thought, a fear, or a question you’d rather not ask yourself.

Tyriq Withers and Marlon Wayans carry the story effortlessly, with an electrifying chemistry that feels too real, a mix of admiration and hostility. The way Isaiah manipulates Cade reminds me of how fame manipulates people in real life. You start to see the layers of exploitation beneath the glamour of professional sports.

I must applaud the visuals; they deserve a special mention, particularly the scene in the compound where most of the story unfolds, which felt like another character: isolated, dry, and suffocating. The hallucinations, the blurred lights, the surreal scenes where reality and imagination collide, they all pull you deeper into Cade’s mind. And sound design deserves praise too; there were scenes where sudden silence is used to build suspense before each violent moment hits harder than any jump scare.

This movie gives us a twisted peek into how the sports world really works, stripped of glamour. Behind the money, the fans, and the trophies are broken people, injured bodies, and manipulated minds. From the greedy owners to the doctor covering up medical malpractice, HIM exposes it all through horror.

What I Didn’t Like

For all its brilliance, HIM isn’t perfect. At first, it starts off with a sharp, almost hypnotic rhythm. However, as it nears the end, that rhythm begins to fade. Consequently, some scenes drag longer than necessary, and a few critical moments are left frustratingly unexplained.

At times, the hallucinations blur too much, making it difficult to tell what’s happening. As a result, it sometimes feels like the movie is hiding behind its own weirdness.

Eventually, the climax, though violent and visually stunning, left me with mixed feelings. It’s not bad; nevertheless, it doesn’t hit as hard as it should. You keep waiting for that one jaw-dropping twist that ties everything together, but instead, the movie drifts into ambiguity. Perhaps that’s intentional. Maybe it’s meant to leave you uneasy. Still, I wanted something more solid.

Moreover, a few supporting characters feel underused. Marjorie, for instance, had so much potential as a cult-like fan leader. Yet, she gets cut off too soon. If there had been some sort of backstory around her, HIM would’ve had more depth. Likewise, the team doctor could’ve added more spark to the idea of medical corruption in sports.

Verdict

HIM (2025) is more than just a horror movie about football. It’s a cautionary tale about obsession, identity, and the madness that comes with chasing greatness. The film’s greatest strength lies in its performances. Marlon Wayans delivers something unexpected, raw, magnetic, and full of menace. Tyriq Withers gives the movie its heart, his quiet suffering balancing out Isaiah’s loud chaos. And Julia Fox’s cameo as Elsie is just the right dose of absurdity.

Visually, HIM is stunning. Every frame looks like a nightmare painted with precision. The editing keeps the tension alive, and the slow build-up makes every revelation hit deeper.

What I love most is how it forces you to reflect. Fame isn’t free. Success isn’t clean. And for every legend we worship, there’s a trail of broken bodies and corrupted souls behind the spotlight. It’s not a movie you just watch, it’s one you feel. It crawls under your skin and stays there long after the credits roll. As a fan of dark psychological thrillers, or you are fascinated by how sports culture glorifies pain, HIM is definitely your film. It’s eerie, brutal, and deeply human.

My Rating

I would rate Him 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Our Rating of This Movie

Have you seen HIM? Do you think it isn’t getting the hype it deserves?

Author

Amarachi Ndukwe

Amarachi Ndukwe is a talented movie reviewer who knows how to make films easy to understand and fun to discuss. She shares her thoughts in a clear and engaging way, helping her readers see what makes each movie special. With a great eye for detail, she explains stories, themes, and characters in a way that anyone can enjoy.