“HIM,” a football horror movie, hit the big screens on Sep. 19 of 2025. “HIM” entered the theaters and quickly sparked controversy over its genre-blending symbolism in the well-crafted film. “HIM” didn’t stick to straight horror; MonkeyPaw Productions attempted to fuse it with sports drama, religion, and cults, connecting it to a large variety of audiences.
MonkeyPaw Productions was able to advertise the film extremely well in not only posters, ads, and reviews, but also in who they cast as well. Upon seeing the name Marlon Wayans, who played star quarterback Isaiah White in the film, it sparked curiosity throughout film reviewers and fans of the Wayans family alike, since Wayans had never been seen in a horror film before. Wayans played his part well; people have only truly seen Wayans in films like “White Chicks,” so nobody expected such a strong performance from him. Wayans nailed this psychological horror and religious cult role, starting with his posture, voice, and facial expressions. Wayans did the little things to leave his character sinister and lurking, making the reviewers and audience applaud the performance.
Not only did Wayans perform well, but rising actor Tyriq Withers, who played the main character, Cameron Cade, put on a captivating performance. Withers had only small part-time roles before this in shows like “Atlanta” and movies like “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” so he had never been seen on a major platform like this. Withers refused a stunt double and put himself to work for football training to make his role seem all the more real. Not only did he put himself through intensive work, but Withers also has a football background, where he played Division 1 at Florida State. Withers, in interviews, said that he relied on drawing from some of his own real-life experiences to ground emotional moments in the movie and draw empathy from viewers. Withers, as well, was able to pull more viewers into the theaters to see him with not just his attractiveness but with his charisma, humor, smarts, and non-fragile masculinity that he showed off-screen in interviews.
While marketing and advertising leaned heavily on producer Jordan Peele’s name, MonkeyPaw Productions was able to bring strong cinematography and its own style into the film to build the atmosphere. The atmosphere of the movie was strong through lighting, religious symbolism, and intense scenes; not much had to be said to understand the mood. Music composer Bobby Krlic was able to make the soundtrack for the movie unforgettable with hit artists like Denzel Curry, Tupac, Gucci Mane, and many more, all while making sure the song fit the mood of the scenes perfectly.
“HIM” has lots of symbolism with football; football in the movie is seen as something players worship and sacrifice for, especially in the opening scene when Isaiah White “breaks his leg” to make sure the San Antonio Saviors win the Super Bowl. White’s fans in the movie, as well, are cult-like, as they camp outside his residency and even a few break in at one point in time of the movie. There is also a lot of symbolism in religion throughout the movie, with White being set up as the “devil” in many settings, especially on one of the advertisement posters with the field goal posts as his “devil horns.” While any logical person would choose “God, Family, Football” in that order when asked, White places it as “Football, Family, God” to show his extreme dedication to football and the sacrifice he is being put in by selling his soul to be the G.O.A.T.
The movie overall is a great performance from Tyriq Withers and Marlon Wayans, and groundbreaking in new styles of genres being meshed together. The meshed genres and the not fully explained ending leave the movie up in the air for interpretation and conspiracies on connecting it to the real world of the NFL and how religion can be seen as a cult. The movie struck a wide range of audiences and changed people’s perspectives through the nontraditional structure MonkeyPaw Productions had.
