By Mahnoosh Arsalan
Correspondent
Justin Tipping’s newest film installation, “HIM” crushes your American dreams and turns the game of football into a bloodbath.
“HIM” follows Cameron Cade, a young football player on the road to making it in the NFL after recovering from a tragic injury, then gets the opportunity to train with his idol, former quarterback Isaiah White, who is not who Cade expected him to be. Over a seven-day period, the audience sees Cade fall into White’s terrifying world and his ultimate descent into madness.
“HIM,” directed by Tipping and produced by Jordan Peele, stars Tyriq Withers, an up-and-coming actor and former football player, and Marlon Wayans, a world-renowned comedy actor.
Withers only recently began his acting career and was able to quickly make his way into Hollywood. His portrayal of Cade was truly authentic due to his football experience, and it really makes the audience feel all his feelings with him.
Cade is confused, in pain, frustrated and ultimately losing it. Withers did a great job at presenting a young athlete under an immeasurable amount of pressure, truly highlighting the stress of being one of the greats.
This film is Wayans as you’ve never seen him before: maniacal, deranged and violent. Best known for his role in “White Chicks,” Wayans is notorious for his classic comedies. Though he has taken on serious roles in the past, Tyrone in Aronofsky’s “Requiem for a Dream” being just one example, his portrayal of White is unlike anything he’s done before.
Wayans showcases an immense sense of intensity in White, yet such detachment from the real world. With many movies showcasing multi-millionaire celebrity stories, a lost sense of reality is common, especially with all of the power they hold that is used only when it benefits them. Wayans excellently displayed White as a man who holds so much power and truly abuses it as much as he can.
One aspect of the movie Tipping emphasized was the massive cult following that athletes gain once they reach world fame. White’s eerie followers were truly the most frightening part of the film. They appeared in unexpected parts of the film, exhibiting extremely strange behavior, with each subtle movement leaving you feeling uncomfortable and unsafe.
Despite how perturbing they were, they were definitely one of the more interesting parts of the film, which highlighted Tipping’s horror directing.
With all that said, it is important to note that “HIM” was missing something, or maybe it had too much. Throughout the film, I kept expecting more from each scene, and I especially hoped for more from the characters' dialogue.
At the same time, Tipping posed the idea of football being its own cult, and it was extremely evident. In fact, I don’t think it could have been any clearer. The writing of the film was lacking sustenance, and it replaced it with more basic, in-your-face ideas.
In an interview with Backstage, Tipping reminisces on his experience filming the final scene of the movie, stating that it was “either too silly or too serious,” and that’s exactly how this entire movie felt.
Additionally, “HIM” consistently asks the question “how far would you go for your dreams?” yet left the audience with a lot of unanswered questions. I felt slightly unsatisfied with the film, due to its very thought-provoking concept and dim execution.
However, Tipping’s directing was impeccable. From beautiful cinematography to good psychological horror, Tipping is headed in the right direction, especially when it comes to working with Monkeypaw Productions, Peele’s production company.
This movie exhibits great inspiration from older filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and Brian de Palma for bloody, explosive violence, while also taking strange, unexplained aspects of modern directors like Ari Aster and Ti West.
Ultimately, “HIM” is a blood-filled drama that gets the audience thinking about their hopes and dreams. Are things really as simple as they seem, or do they hold a secretive, sinister truth? There’s only one way to find out: how far would you go on the road to discovery?
