HIM review: Taking the toxicity of American football to task

“As your doctor, I cannot recommend you compete.”
“And as a fan?” 

This line of dialogue near the start of Justin Tipping’s HIM immediately nails the toxicity of American football, perfectly setting the stage for what’s to come in the Jordan Peele produced sports horror. 

Without a doubt, Peele’s name being attached to the project is why people are going to show up to theaters for the film, but you’ll quickly find that the producer wanted his name involved in the conversation around HIM for a reason. Tipping’s feature is both esoteric and hamfisted, picking and choosing when to lead with nuance and when to lay it on thick for the viewer.

There’s cleverness here for two reasons, with the first being that, while American football does have its international fans, it’s less globally known. The more important reason, though, is fandom’s — particularly sports fandom — proclivity to view the sport through rose colored glasses, ignoring the toll it puts on the players for their own personal enjoyment. 

What’s HIM about?

Indeed, HIM brings up the comparison to gladiators frequently, laughing at the idea that fans cheer on the very thing that they treat as barbaric when highlighted in a historical context. Then, it was an arena with weapons with two men facing each other down until the death. Now, we slap pads on them and watch as they concuss and snap each other’s bones, cheering on with delight as we completely ignore the long-term effects we’ve come to know to be true after decades of the game and the advance of medical science.

Those concerns mean little to Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers, 2025’s I Know What You Did Last Summer). After suffering a devastating head injury, Cade learns that he’s going to miss his shot to become the next first round draft pick. Or at least he would have, if all-star quarterback of the San Antonio Saviors Isaiah White (Marlan Wayans) didn’t swoop in and offer to take the future hall of famer under his wing and personally deliver him to team management after a week of training if he felt like Cade really was the next GOAT. 

What Makes HIM Special?

Of course, all is not what it seems for young Cade. HIM is a film that relies heavily on allusion right up until it doesn’t any longer. Isaiah White suffers a career-ending injury after winning his first Super Bowl but returns against all odds to win a record eight additional Big Games. GOAT, here, is used as a double entendre for the Greatest of All Time and satanic implications, but it’s so expertly illustrated that you start to wonder if there really is something mystical going on or if the magic is some combination of the god-like worship we place on football players combined with sports medicine. 

Wayans and Withers are both incredibly strong in their leading roles, carrying the film on their backs with as much ease as their characters would carry a football game

The performances of Wayans and Withers are both incredibly strong in their leading roles, carrying the film on their backs with as much ease as their characters would carry a football game. But there’s a sleeper favorite here in Jim Jeffries’ sports doctor, Marco. While Cade’s family and girlfriend are endlessly supportive of his goals and make it clear that they’ll love him no matter what happens, Marco is the only one actively warning him against continuing down this path.

Writers Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie and writer/director Tipping make an active point to have medical staff be the soul voice of reason throughout the film, repeatedly reminding Cade that his dreams of being the GOAT are not worth the price. 

It’s the set design that immediately makes HIM stand out. Coupled with an incredible score from composer Bobby Krlic, set designer Daniel R. Jennings and set decorator Kellie Jo Tinney bring the film to life. From Isaiah’s modernly ominous abode to the Cade family’s middle-American lower class wood paneling, the sets of HIM are as critical to the film’s success as the performances of its stars.  

Though, it’s the harsh mirror that the film holds to sports fandom and hero worship that means HIM will stand the test of time. While it’s impossible to dive too deeply into that conversation without wading into spoiler territory, suffice to say that the aforementioned hamfistedness of the script will be entirely necessary for a demographic of people that lack the self awareness to understand that this play is about them.

As a(n American) football fan myself (go Lions!), HIM calls out several concerns I’ve discussed as I’ve gotten older and we’ve learned more about the toll the game puts on its players. Particularly the way it sacrifices Black bodies for the enrichment of white owners, predominantly white coaching staff, and its alienation of Black fans in shared spaces. American football is a 25 billion dollar industry. And it is built on the backs of Black men. That’s an easy fact for many to ignore, making HIM’s hamfisted nature completely justified as far as this writer is concerned.

Though the heavy-handedness of its messaging might be a turnoff for some, it feels completely necessary

Should you watch HIM?

While the movie is the perfect addition to Peele’s Monkey Paw Productions pantheon, what makes it more interesting is how much of a flex it is for Tipping as a writer/director. The TV and short director has one previous feature film to his name, but I suspect that will change in a significant way once more eyes fall on HIM.

Though the heavy-handedness of its messaging might be a turnoff for some, it feels completely necessary for the subject matter. With the story being elevated by strong performances, incredible set design and a banger score, HIM is impossible to ignore. 

HIM is out in cinemas in the US this Friday, 19 September 2025, and releases in the UK on Friday 3 October 2025. American readers can buy tickets from AMC Theatres and Fandango, while British readers can buy them from Odeon and Vue.

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