Justin Tipping
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Connections, in both directions
I can certainly see why Jordan Peele got involved with this, as it has many of the elements he has used in his three movies: Get Out, Us, and Nope.
Essentially trading “Get Out” for “Get Off the Field,” Tipping’s second feature doesn’t seem capable of existing without its progenitor’s specific brand of off-kilter comedy-horror commentary on the commodification of Black bodies…
Him settles for being a copy of Whiplash in the style of Get Out, but doesn’t have an iota of the intelligence or horrifying elements to invest in.
Peele’s involvement raises expectations, yet this isn’t the next “Get Out” or “Us.”
However, Justin Tipping’s Him doesn’t have nearly the thematic ambition of the Peele-directed Nope and Get Out.
Hollywood has spent the years following Get Out (2017) trying to replicate its lightning in a bottle success to little avail, contrasting with Peele’s more ambitious follow-up films drifting further from punchy, unsubtle allegories.
The third act becomes especially unengaging once the convoluted truth is revealed, transforming the picture from a diluted Whiplash into a feeble Get Out knockoff.
Think Whiplash, Black Swan, or The Perfection, but with much heavier symbolism.
Him settles for being a copy of Whiplash in the style of Get Out, but doesn’t have an iota of the intelligence or horrifying elements to invest in.
The intense mentor whose tactics are questionable and borderline abusive at best calls to mind Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash…
Part Baptist preacher, part Terence Fletcher from Whiplash, part Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now…
It’s understanding of the league and league business is questionable, putting it in same category as Draft Day or Any Given Sunday, both movies that strain credulity in this regard.
…it’s a muddled mix of “Any Given Sunday” and “Rosemary’s Baby.”
With this setup, it seemed like HIM could be a more sinister, twisted version of Any Given Sunday peeling back deeper levels on the sacrifices professional football players make to become the very best.
Like many “unauthorized” films that feature American pro football, Him is obliged to omit any trademarks connected to the real-world NFL (see also: North Dallas Forty, The Last Boy Scout, Any Given Sunday).
Enjoy bold, arty horror where the meaning is yours to piece together, like Black Swan or The Substance…
Other media titles have done it before – The Novice, Whiplash and Black Swan immediately spring to mind – but it’s still a sturdy thematic crux.
Think Whiplash, Black Swan, or The Perfection, but with much heavier symbolism.
Tipping wears his inspirations on his sleeve—Satoshi kon’s Perfect Blue (1997), Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan (2010), Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, and Alejandro Jodorowsky’s The Holy Mountain (1973)—yet doesn’t present exactly what he wants to do.
The movie’s structure honestly has a lot more in common with this year’s Opus than one would think, a vapid and airless thematic presence that can’t even manage to have any remotely eerie or humorous moments.
Him, like this year's Opus, wants to discuss the issues of fame and glory but lacks real conviction, commentary, or understanding of the horror genre to give its contribution to the conversation weight.
I’m reminded of a similar film from earlier in the year: Opus — an equally stylized and ambitious picture, but one that plays all of its cards too early, revealing itself to be an undercooked version of a narrative we’re all familiar with and that we’ve seen better versions of.
If you’ve seen The Menu (2022) or Opus (2025), then you know the exact trajectory the narrative takes — the near mythical celebrity is not-so-secretly a monster with ulterior motives, which gradually becomes clear over a week of specially tailored practice sessions.
It even shares some similar narrative DNA with another 2025 release, Mark Anthony Green’s Opus, for the way it depicts a mystifying star inviting people—or in this case, one person—to his home to participate in some unconventional and questionable cult-like rituals.
I haven't felt this disappointed by a film since A24's Opus.
…the sub-Suspiria conspiracy theories of HIM feels more like a fumbled pass than an end-zone run.
The critical longevity of perplexing Euro-horror masterworks like Blood and Black Lace (1964), A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin (1971), and Suspiria (1977) certainly suggest the latter.
HIM reminds me a lot of Poltergeist (1982), and not because there’s a Beast in the wings, but because Justin Tipping may be the Tobe Hooper of Poltergeist. IYKYK.
…football is the equivalent of the static on the tube television that sucks Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke) into its portal in “Poltergeist” (1982).
Also check out: Revisiting Jordan Peele Films Get Out and Us…
Peele’s involvement raises expectations, yet this isn’t the next “Get Out” or “Us.”
The film also stars Tim Heidecker (Us) and comedian Jim Jefferies.
Tim Heidecker (Us)…
Get Out, Us and Nope are all significant films and reflect Peele’s agreeably warped sense of how horror and comedy might mix.
That’s especially disappointing since HIM is produced by Jordan Peele, who’s had an excellent track record with Get Out, Us and Nope.
I can certainly see why Jordan Peele got involved with this, as it has many of the elements he has used in his three movies: Get Out, Us, and Nope.
However, Justin Tipping’s Him doesn’t have nearly the thematic ambition of the Peele-directed Nope and Get Out.
That’s especially disappointing since HIM is produced by Jordan Peele, who’s had an excellent track record with Get Out, Us and Nope.
Academy Award-winner Jordan Peele, noted for his own horror films like "Get Out" and "Nope," was one of its producers.
Get Out, Us and Nope are all significant films and reflect Peele’s agreeably warped sense of how horror and comedy might mix.
As a director, Jordan Peele makes original, thematically complex horror (Get Out, Us, Nope).
In others words, it’s American Horror Story: Football.
She seems to be channeling Lady Gaga from “American Horror Story” except with more ambiguity sometimes parental and other times like a satirical, exploitive influencer.
Naomi Grossman, Season 2 and 4 of American Horror Story, FX, 2011-Present…
Some may even recognize “American Horror Story” favorite Pepper (Naomi Grossman), showing up here as a crazed, obsessed fan.
…it’s a muddled mix of “Any Given Sunday” and “Rosemary’s Baby.”
It’s as if the entire film is set in the third act of Get Out or Rosemary’s Baby or any other film about a hapless innocent thrust into a world of evil wrongdoers.
Wayans approaches the role with a twenty-first century Marlon Brando-esque charm like “Apocalypse Now” (1979) and “The Island of Dr. Moreau” (1996).
Part Baptist preacher, part Terence Fletcher from Whiplash, part Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now…
I recently posted that my idea for a football horror movie would be to follow Billy Blanks’ tragic character Billy Cole from The Last Boy Scout, coincidentally starring Damon Wayans.
Like many “unauthorized” films that feature American pro football, Him is obliged to omit any trademarks connected to the real-world NFL (see also: North Dallas Forty, The Last Boy Scout, Any Given Sunday).
Enjoy bold, arty horror where the meaning is yours to piece together, like Black Swan or The Substance…
Think Foxcatcher or, in an abstract way, The Substance.
If you’ve seen The Menu (2022) or Opus (2025), then you know the exact trajectory the narrative takes — the near mythical celebrity is not-so-secretly a monster with ulterior motives, which gradually becomes clear over a week of specially tailored practice sessions.
That strands the film in the same kind of isolation that enveloped a deluge of post-COVID thrillers, including the likes of The Menu, Don’t Worry Darling, and Opus.
…gets his skull bashed by a team mascot in what looks like a pagan ritual out of Ari Aster’s “Midsommar,” a film that knew how to do this scare stuff better.
Think “Midsommar” (2019) with the isolation, the physical strain, the strange medical treatments and psychological manipulation to get him to stop caring and be more violent, but unlike the young people visiting Sweden, Cam is trained to obey orders, so he is vulnerable on his first day.
Larry Clark, director of “Kids” and “Bully,” established his career with ugly “youth of today” dramas.
I can recall a few thrillers like the original STRANGERS ON A TRAIN and THE FAN.
The critical longevity of perplexing Euro-horror masterworks like Blood and Black Lace (1964), A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin (1971), and Suspiria (1977) certainly suggest the latter.
In the same way that Cam’s dad forces him to observe the violence of football, so, too, does Tipping force the audience to look, like we’re Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange, eyes taped open.