"Do you want this? I said, do you want this? If you want to transcend the game... you have to dig deep. Your mind, your body, have to be in sync. Talent is how hard you're willing to work. No days off. No sleep. We grind. 'I'm never good enough. I'm never good enough.' That's how great people think. So you have to ask yourself: What am I willing to sacrifice?"
— Isaiah White
Him (stylized as HIM) is a sports horror film. It is directed by Justin Tipping (Kicks, Flatbush Misdemeanors, Joe vs. Carole) and written by Tipping, Skip Bronkie and Zack Akers (Limetown). It stars Marlon Wayans, Tyriq Withers, Julia Fox, Jim Jefferies, and Tim Heidecker.
Cameron Cade (Withers) is an up-and-coming young quarterback with a bright future. But that future is put in massive jeopardy when he suffers a potentially career-ending brain trauma. Despite this injury, legendary eight-time Championship quarterback and cultural megastar Isaiah White (Wayans) and his celebrity influencer wife Elsie (Fox) invite Cam to their isolated compound to give him their knowledge on how to excel in the game. But as the training progresses, Isaiah's charisma begins to curdle into something darker, sending his protégé down a disorienting rabbit hole that may cost him more than he ever bargained for.
The movie, produced by Jordan Peele under his Monkeypaw Productions banner, and distributed by Universal Pictures, was released on September 19th, 2025.
Not to be confused with the Finnish rock band. Or the ERB animation. Or WWE wrestler Carmelo Hayes, who is nicknamed "HIM."
Previews: Teaser Trailer
, Saviors Fans viral site, Official Trailer
HIM contains examples of:
- Ambiguously Human: The free agents can shrug off brutal injuries. There are also cheerleaders with blurred faces, though these appear to be masks, look closely and you can make out facial features beneath what seems like a nylon covering. The drummers wear black masks, but by the end it's clear they're genuinely afraid of Cam. Still does not explain why they continue their choregraphy and music while Cam is very brutally and bloody massacring the owners in front of them.
- Animal Motifs: Goats, both as an acronym for "Greatest Of All Time" (often used in sports) and as the animal. Goats are both seen as sacrificial animals in religious rituals, and as animals with satanic connotations, with both coming into play for the rituals of the Saviors.
- Arc Words: Sacrifice. The word is repeated by many characters, including Isaiah, in regard to what Cam is willing to do to achieve greatness. It's also the word used as the onscreen chapter title of the final day of his training.
- Bland-Name Product:
- The USFF serves as a stand-in for the NFL, featuring fictional franchises and a championship trophy that looks very similar to the Lombardi Trophy.
- In terms of important franchises, the San Antonio Saviors replace the real-life San Antonio Brahmas, though the latter are in the UFL instead.
- Blood Magic: What gives the Saviors' G.O.A.T.s their abilities is ritual blood transfers, from injections to drinking it straight, with Cam taking in that of Isaiah. The "magic" comes in with the Saviors' demonic patron.
- Bludgeoned to Death: In their duel to the death, Cam eventually overpowers Zay and kills him with one of his predecessor's helmets.
- The Cameo: On Cam's phone while he is getting a haircut, one of the texts is from "Uncle Chris". It is strongly implied that Uncle Chris is Chris Washington from Get Out (2017).
- Combat Sadomasochist: At Cam's first practice, one of the Saviors receivers gets picked as the aspiring QB's whipping boy. For each subpar pass, he receives a JUGS machine blast right in the face, leaving his face completely battered afterwards. And he loves every second of it, even thanking Isaiah for selecting him for the honor.Isaiah: In this game, violence is rewarded. So learn to enjoy it.
- Commercial Switcheroo: The teaser starts like a commercial for a sports-related brand like Gatorade or Nike, complete with inspirational narration and a Training Montage. But the moment it suddenly switches to an X-Ray of Pain, and Jordan Peele's credit appears, things take a turn for the sinister.
- Creepy Mascot Suit: Two mascots appear in the teaser, and they both look terrifying:
- When Cam picks up a spinning football on the track, he's too distracted to notice a devilish-looking mascot with seemingly real horns on its head behind him, who takes a swing at his head with a war hammer.
- The mascot "Tinsel Larry" note , wears red streamers and tinsel that covers his entire body, wears a red cowboy hat, and also wields a war hammer.
- Deal with the Devil: The Saviors seem to have made an infernal contract that seems to date back to the beginning of the League itself. In their final fight it is hinted that Isaiah is not the first one signing the contract, with there apparently being a lineage of G.O.A.T.s.
- Drone of Dread: With Bobby Krlic as composer, the teaser is littered with intense drones to emphasize the horror that's about to come, and how Cameron's dream of training alongside his hero curdles into a nightmare.
- Elite Athlete's Aging Angst: Isaiah White is a legendary eight-time Championship quarterback who brings in a young protege, Cameron Cade, because he's feeling his age.note Horror ensues.
- Emoticon: Marco's syringes of "the good stuff" have a "¯\_(ツ)_/¯" on the label.
- The Faceless: The cheerleaders' faces in the final scene are blurred, and the drum players all have black cloth covering their entire heads. It's more noticeable in the Official Trailer, but it doesn't make it less unnerving.
- Facial Horror: As punishment for Cam not passing the ball fast enough, Isaiah has one of his cronies stand in front of a JUGS football launcher and endure a football launching straight into his face with each fail. By the time the exercise is over, the man's face is a bloodied swollen mess, and he's missing a tooth. But the craziest part? That same man laughs when Cameron runs to him out of concern.
- Fingore: Both the official trailer and two of the film posters show a shot of Isaiah posing while wearing his 8 Championship rings, and we see that his left ring finger is broken, bent at an unnatural angle.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: During the inspirational speech in the teaser, Isaiah's narration becomes more toxic and negative which clues in the viewer that something is amiss. Then Cameron messes up during training and screams "FUCK!" in frustration. Then before the viewer can process the shock of harsh profanity in a seemingly innocuous sports commercial, the Wham Shot fully dismantles the illusion and dives fully into horror.Isaiah: I'm never good enough. I'm never good enough.Cameron: [Misses shot during training] FUCK!Isiah: That's how great people think. [Cue X-Ray of Pain Wham Shot]
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: When Cam refuses to sign the contract, there is a very demonic-looking figure behind him for a moment.
- Genre Mashup: The film is a sports horror story, which is a rare combination to find in cinema due to the largely disparate conventions of both genres. The onmipresence of horrific injuries and illicit substance use also adds a Medical Horror element.
- The Hero's Idol: In youth, Cameron always admired Isaiah and always cheered, "I'm him!" Funnily enough, come present day, Isaiah himself is a fan of Cameron, to the young quarterback's surprise.Isaiah: Cameron Cade. Great meeting you, I'm a fan.
Cameron: That's crazy. I damn near worshiped you growing up. - I Ate WHAT?!: Adjusted to "I Was Injected With" or "I Drank". Both of which are "the good stuff" Cam takes in, Isaiah's ritual G.O.A.T. blood. It is hinted that this is how previous targets were taken in as well.
- I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: Cameron gets put under a sadistic high-pressure training method, a passing drill where every time he throws an errant pass, the receiver has a pitching machine fire a football into their face at point-blank range.
- Loony Fan: A group of Isaiah's hardcore fans has set up shop near Isaiah's compound, forming a quasi-cult led by a woman named Marjorie. Throughout the film, they attempt several hits on Cameron, beginning in his earliest Draft talks, causing him to miss the Combine.
- Malevolent Masked Man:
- Several of Isaiah's cultists wear masks, either in the shape of goat heads or footballs. This includes his assailant from the film's prologue.
- For Cam's contract-signing ceremony, his agent and the Saviors front office don pig masks.
- Medical Horror: Laced into the psychological elements of the story is the all-too-real horror of a young athlete pumping mysterious, unknown drugs (literally labeled with a smiling shrug emoji) into his veins at the advice of a morally-questionable athletics doctor who's more than likely prioritizing his performance over his physical well-being.
- A Minor Kidroduction: Cameron is first seen as a child watching a USFF championship playoff with his family.
- Moody Trailer Cover Song: The theatrical trailer switches to an eerie sounding rendition of 2Pac's "Hail Mary", with "Psycho" Strings throughout
- Off with His Head!: The Saviors' owner is decapitated by Cam after he threatened to kill Cam's family for refusing to sign the contract.
- Onscreen Chapter Titles: Used to mark the different days that Cam spends in Isaiah's private training complex.
- Day I: Fun
- Day II: Poise
- Day III: Leadership
- Day IV: Resilience
- Day V: Vision
- Day VI: Sacrifice
- Real After All: At first it is ambiguous as to whether or not the Saviors actually impart magical abilities. Then a very demonic-looking figure is for a moment watching Cam refusing the contract and shortly after, Tom is killed by an unseen demonic force, insinuating the boosts were very much real.
- Replacement Scrappy: In-Universe. Isaiah's cultists repeatedly heckle and assault Cam simply for the possibility that he might replace their idol.
- Ritual Magic: After overpowering Isaiah, a bloodied Cameron walks out of the compound and onto the field. Faceless cheerleaders usher him through a gauntlet towards a pentagram, behind which sits Elsie, a pen in her hand to seal his fate, and the owners of The Saviors, in full ritual regalia: furs, horns, and the skins of dead pigs. A binding of some sort is impending, one that appears to be paranormal.
- Sports Dad: Cameron's late father has shades of being a sports dad; in his TV interview at the beginning of the film, Cameron mentions "doing it for [his] dad," and this sentiment is echoed by other characters later in the film. Takes on a much darker connotation when it is revealed that said dad set him up to be the next G.O.A.T. in the first place, essentially sacrificing his son to the latter's own success.
- Take That!: Zay's pompous influencer wife Elsie is shown promoting a vaginal jade egg, an unscientific and potentially harmful product that gained notoriety after being peddled by Gwyneth Paltrow.
- The Tooth Hurts: The Saviors player assigned with taking a blast to the face from the JUGS machine after every unsatisfactory pass of Cam's is afterwards shown caring for his wound, a bloodied mouth with one missing tooth.
- Undignified Death: After Cam rejects the deal and kills the goat mascot that attacked him, Elsie attempts to stab him with her dagger… and then she trips and stabs herself in the throat, spending her final moments reaching out to Cam for help as she bleeds out.
- Wham Shot: The trailer begins like it's for a typical sports flick... then the credit "FROM PRODUCER JORDAN PEELE" appears in red text, and the music goes from inspirational to Bobby Krlic's (of Midsommar fame) Drone of Dread, and you realize it's a horror movie.
- Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises: In the trailer, as Cameron is injected with a substance from a syringe, there is a shot of his eye going wide and his pupil shrinking.
- Worst Aid: After accidentally falling onto her knife in the film's climax, Elsie makes the mistake of pulling it out of her neck, bleeding out immediately.
- X-Ray of Pain: At practice on Isaiah's compound, two players collide into each other's heads, with a sudden X-ray of the men with one's brain rattling from the impact, signaling a concussion.
- You Have Failed Me:
- Implied to be the reason for Marco's death. He was last seen alive trying to tell Cam to "run" when Elsie was bringing him to meet the owners of the Saviors, then his decapitated head is seen after, insinuating he was killed for trying to help Cam get out of the deal.
- With the entire Saviors' owners team dead and Cam having refused the deal, his agent Tom, who helped orchestrate most of the deal, is killed by an unseen demonic entity for his failure in securing Cam's involvement.
Isaiah: WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO SACRIFICE?! YOU FUCKIN SAY IT! SAY IT!!
Cameron: EVERYTHING!!!
Isaiah: ...Then show me.
Cameron: EVERYTHING!!!
Isaiah: ...Then show me.