Review: Him

Official synopsis: A young football star, Cam (Tyriq Withers) descends into a world of terror when he's invited to train with a legendary champion (Marlon Wayans) whose charisma curdles into something darker.

I knew this film was getting trashed before I bought my ticket, but something about Him has had me intrigued ever since I saw the first trailer. I'm happy to say it's not as bad as I thought it would be.

But it's still bad.

Writer/Director Justin Tipping shoots this film like he just discovered Nicolas Winding Refn. Sure, there's some great shots here and there, but going full art house and slapping your audience in the face with symbolism is never the way to go. Especially when you actually have an interesting premise. There are TONS of people that treat football like a religion, and it's easy to see how a training camp could descend into a cult of hazing hell. But this film isn't interested in exploring much of that. It would rather show you a fancy visual rather than say something smart about how these athletes are scouted, how brain injuries are so easily overlooked, and the amount of pressure some of these athletes have.

Withers is fine in this role, he doesn't have to do much other than be himself. Wayans was probably the strongest, he does succeed in making Isaiah an intimidating figure. Juila Fox shows up every now and then as Isaiah's influencer wife, and she's funny (though someone get her out of her Jeffree Star era, please) but what ends up happening with her character feels so out of left field. And again, it's because the writers didn't take enough time to flesh out this story. 

It's a shame when a good idea goes to waste. Maybe someone else can do better with it in the future.

Grade: C-