Him: el elegido

Billed as one of September 2025's most anticipated horror releases, HIM arrives with Jordan Peele attached as producer (though not director), and the hype around it was sky-high. The film follows a legendary football star who refuses to let go of his glory days after winning eight consecutive Super Bowl rings. Obsessed with staying at the top, he'll do anything-even eliminate his successor.

Marlon Wayans turns in a surprisingly dark performance as the villain, blending psychological torment with brutal physicality. He's chilling, unpredictable, and easily one of the film's strongest aspects. Tyriq Withers, on the other hand, cements himself as a rising star. His performance is so magnetic and raw that you can't look away whenever he's onscreen.

The movie starts strong-the first act hooks you instantly, and the second act, while slightly uneven, still delivers enough thrills to keep you strapped in like a roller coaster. Unfortunately, when the third act arrives, the wheels completely fall off. Instead of a powerful finale, the story collapses under bizarre choices, awkward dialogue, and a conclusion that feels more like a parody than a payoff.

The "sacrifice" subplot spirals into incoherence, with biblical references clashing against demonic imagery. Goats appear repeatedly, hammering home the idea of Satan posing as God, but the messaging is muddled. Even Marlon Wayans' chilling line about "Football first, family second, God third" gets lost in the chaos of a finale that devolves into circus-level absurdity.

And then there's the infamous line-"If you let me go, I'll suck your dick"-which comes out of nowhere. With no buildup or subtext to support it, it feels jarringly out of place and distracts from everything the film had worked to build up. Instead of intensifying the tension, it derails it entirely.

The character of Miss White (the pale-haired woman with white eyebrows) is a visual oddity throughout the movie, and when she finally gets acknowledged on-screen, it almost feels like the film is poking fun at itself. By that point, though, the damage is done.

What's most disappointing is that the film's setup-fame, glory, sacrifice, and the cost of never letting go-had real potential. The first two acts prove HIM could have been something special. But the third act derails everything, leaving viewers more confused than satisfied.

Final Verdict: HIM is a missed opportunity-worth watching for Marlon Wayans' chilling villain turn and Tyriq Withers' breakout performance, but the botched ending drags it into disappointment. If you're curious, check it out, but this one can definitely wait until streaming.

People aren't giving it a fair shake I don't think. It does have its problems, for one "tense" dramatic scenes feel goofy, whether it be bad directing or writing or acting I can't really tell but that does hurt the movie. However; there also is a lot of good to say, The message is on the nose but its also very worth telling, not many movies will have the guts to do it so I will applaud it for that. The cinematography is amazing, the scenes in the desert look amazing. The plot is a little confusing and I can see how people would think that it's "Fake Deep" or whatever but I can't wait to actually dive into all the symbolism when I can watch it again. On the negative side It's also hard to judge what the characters are about or what they want.

I am a football fiend. I am a movie fiend. I don't normally go for sports movies since they all seem to use the same underdog template. But a football horror movie? Sign me up day one.

Unfortunately I had a pretty bad time with this movie. I could tell something was off early on. It has inconsistent tones and weird editing. Some of the music is beastly but some feels out of place. And it gets loud seemingly at random, even over dialogue, making it hard to hear it.

There are so many ideas and themes crammed into this movie. Most of them are barely touched upon. Crazy fans, annoying news media and concussions are all included but as unnecessary afterthoughts. It's all over the place.

I found a bunch of parts weird and dumb. And while I like Marlon, I think he was completely miscast in this role. All I kept imagining is how much more intimidating and creepy the character would be if he was played by Mahershala Ali.

(1 viewing, opening Thursday UltraScreen 9/18/2025)

'HIM' tries to immerse us in a dark world where winning, being the best, and doing whatever it takes to get there matter most. It shows the hardships, demands, and questionable choices faced by those striving to be the greatest of all time. However, due to its overuse of symbolism, metaphors, and some odd decisions with camera cuts and style, it leaves us feeling indifferent about what happens to any character or the story itself.

The highest praise that we can give this movie is for Marlon Wayans, who delivers a career-best performance. Still, that gets lost in a film that fails to make us care about anything happening on screen, leaving us puzzled rather than moved. There's a good movie in here somewhere, but they fumbled the chance of making it get there.

'HIM' is a rough film, filled with unrelatable characters, a chaotic artistic style, and a story that ultimately doesn't evoke emotion or connection. Marlon Wayans is excellent, but everything else about this film feels forced, pretentious, and heavy-handed.

Brad: 4.5 Josh: 5

Full Review: wbtp.link/youtube.

I didn't plan to go see this one, but I got so bored on a Thursday at work. I decided to sneak out and go see it. I figured that I would just walk out if the movie weren't good; I have Regal Unlimited ... In the end, the movie is flawed yet watchable. It's not a good movie; but I was able to make it to the end. It's not as bad as critics say

So I'll start with the good: I like the lead actor Tyriq Withers (he kinda seems like a blend of Paul Walker and Channing Tatum), and Marlon Wayons is credible as the aging quarterback. Marlon Wayons may be 52-53, but he really got in shape here. He looks fantastic physically. The movie has some beautifully-filmed scenes, kinda reminscient of the 2000 movie "The Cell." The X-ray scenes are cool.

The movie also has a good set-up and premise. From the opening scene to Tyriq Withers' arrival at Marlon Wayans' camp, the movie sets up an ominious atmosphere. The scene where a rabid fan shouts "We Don't Want You!" at Tyrik Withers is well-done. The movie really could have been an A+, Longlegs-type of horror with the right execution

Ultimately, too many issues remain. The big one is that I'm just unclear about what the movie is trying to say. The movie has some grandiose, elevated scenes that hint at a message (e.g. There's some religious imagery connecting Marlon Wayan's character to Christ). But I can't really tell what's the message? Is there something about sports? About violence? About masculinity? About race?

The movie's weird scenes are visually aesthetic, but they often seem more random and meaningless than powerful or insightful. My reaction was more in the sense of, "Hey, that looked cool. But what was the point?"

The movie film teases too much the possibility that Tyriq Withers is hallucinating everything because of his head injury. They introduce his brother, mother, and girlfriend early. They all get forgotten to the point where the film could have scrapped all of them without affecting anything

The behavior of Tyriq Withers's character is sometimes eye-rolling. He takes too long to realize that there's something nefarious going on . There's a part where he witnesses an individual brutally take a football to the face. Yet not long afterwards, Tyriq Withers goes on like normal, having buddy-buddy moments with Marlon Wayans. An imbecile would have sensed that something was off with the place

And finally - the conclusion may have some beautiful imagery, but it doesn't work from a storyline perspective. What's supposed to happen to him now? And what Tyriq Withers does at the end seems disconsonant with his character's actions throughout the movie. If the rest of the movie was supposed to build up to this transformation in his character where he's able to do what he does, then the movie failed to convey it

5.5/10.