Review: Him
Horror movies and football, the two best things about October! Does Him inspire fear, like a Miles Garrett pass rush, or is it harder to watch than a primetime game between the Dolphins and the Titans?
We often talk about the power of high expectations, and how they can hamper our reaction to otherwise good art. Too much hype, and any movie, album, or TV show has a near insurmountable hill to climb in order to meet our expectations. To pick a random example from many years ago: I think The Matrix is probably a pretty fun sci-fi adventure, but I was sold a mind-expanding experience and the defining movie of our generation. The gulf between what I expected that movie to be by the time I saw it and what it actually turned out to be has soured me on the franchise to the point that I never even bothered with the sequels, and I don't think I've ever seen the original more than once. What we talk about less, is that the opposite can also be true. A piece of art that is uniquely reviled can lower your expectations to the point that any hint of a positive experience feels exponentially more potent. I suppose this phenomenon isn't as prevalent because we are far more likely to seek the highly touted movies than the ones everybody seems to hate, but the fact remains that expectations play a role in our enjoyment in both directions. Him is a movie that I actually had high hopes for upon its initial marketing. I love professional football, and there is a lot of ground that a horror film on the topic could cover. Yet, as the reviews and reactions started rolling in, my expectations were steadily chipped away. This is a particularly despised movie. While it "boasts" a 30% on Rotten Tomatoes, the only perspectives I saw were coming from the seven out of ten who decidedly did not like the film. It seemed to be an abject failure, and more specifically the type of failure that most viewers found unpleasant to watch. So consistent and intense was this reaction, that I resigned myself to skip it altogether. Luckily, my wife, who is far less tapped into pop culture narratives in general, convinced me to try it out despite the avalanche of bad press. I am glad that she did.
To be up front, Him is certainly not among the very best horror of recent vintage. We are in the midst of a horror renaissance, and so the bar for truly exceptional films is quite high. Yet, I find most of the criticisms of the movie to be overblown, especially the ones that suggest it is confusing or difficult to follow. The plot is pretty straight-forward, actually. It follows the path of Cam Cade (Tyriq Withers) who is an ultra-blue chip draft prospect who has his career aspirations seemingly ruined by an assault that leaves him with a serious head injury. One team is willing to take a chance on him, seeking a once-in-a-generation opportunity to replace their aging MVP quarterback, Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans.) Cam joins Isaiah, his childhood hero, at his training compound to audition for the job, and this is where the vast majority of the film plays out. Not everything is as it seems, and the intensity of the training escalates into some shocking and highly dangerous territory. In a lot of ways, the sports backdrop makes the stakes especially clear. I do think that the filmmakers are going for a dreamlike, disorienting presentation where we are meant to question the reality of what we are seeing at times, which is likely the cause for any confusion. Similarly, they seem to be chasing just about every thematic concept that could be associated with a football backdrop (the cult of fame surrounding athletes; CTE and its impacts; parasocial fan relationships; the commodification of young men's health and wellbeing in service of a controlling corporate entity), and the film probably would have been better served to pick one or two and really focus on those. I can see how a lot of this wouldn't necessarily land for everyone watching, it's far from perfect.
Yet, it all landed pretty well for me. I liked the audacious grab bag of themes and the ways that the story took them to their extremes. I have seen the dreamlike, reality-bending aspect done better before, but it was not done poorly here and I think it has something to add to the narrative. Some of the scenes are so odd, in terms of what is actually happening, I think they are served by the feeling that they could be false perceptions from a concussion-addled brain. To be clear, I don't believe the movie ever leaves it up for interpretation what is real and what is not, and by the end you have a clear picture of what happened, but that queasy sense of "offness" is appropriate for what you are watching. This is probably the element that will prove most divisive and puts me (and my wife, fwiw) in the small minority of viewers that ultimately enjoyed this movie on its own terms. You could watch it and experience the same visceral rejection that many others clearly have. If, like me, you find the approach and subject matter of interest, I would encourage you to give it a try and come to your own conclusions.
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