“Greatness demands sacrifice.”
No one expected a football horror movie to slap this hard. But the teaser trailer for Him—the new fever dream from director Justin Tipping and producer Jordan Peele—takes that premise and runs it through a psychological meat grinder. Tyriq Withers, a real-life former wide receiver, makes his acting debut as Cameron Cade, a quarterback so obsessed with being the GOAT that he walks right into a nightmare disguised as mentorship.
Think Whiplash, but instead of jazz drumming, it's tackling drills and brain trauma.
And it's terrifying.
When Get Out Meets Varsity Blues
The trailer plays like a greatest-hits reel of sports drama clichés—until they curdle. What begins as a second-chance arc turns into a slow-burn descent into cult-like training, hallucinatory locker rooms, and a mentor (Marlon Wayans as Isaiah White) whose smile gets creepier by the second.
There's a whiff of Black Swan in how the pursuit of excellence mutates into madness. And just like Darren Aronofsky's ballerina thriller, Him seems obsessed with the body—its limits, its power, and its fragility. The moment Cam's skull meets the turf, the tone shifts. From underdog to under siege.
Wayans, better known for comedy, is giving off serious Cape Fear energy here. And Julia Fox as a celebrity influencer-wife adds that glossy, uncanny Kardashian flavor that screams “something's off”—but you can't look away.
Monkeypaw's Signature: Prestige Horror with a Pop Culture Pulse
This isn't Monkeypaw's first rodeo in the genre-blending arena. Since Get Out, the studio has made a name by smuggling social commentary into genre packaging—Us, Nope, Candyman. But Him might be its most meta project yet: a horror film about the costs of entertaining at all costs.
And that setting? A remote athlete compound that reeks of both NFL bootcamp and cult compound—it's straight out of the Midsommar playbook. A place where greatness is promised, but obedience is demanded.
There's even a hint of real-world echoes: Aaron Hernandez's posthumous CTE diagnosis, the NFL's long-standing concussion crisis, and the grind culture that tells young men to bleed for glory.
As The Atlantic once put it in a 2022 feature: “Football is America's last socially acceptable bloodsport.”
Him seems to be taking that literally.
Will It Score?
It's too soon to call it a touchdown, but Him already looks like it's rewriting the playbook. This isn't just horror—it's horror with pads on, sprinting toward a cultural critique. And for Tyriq Withers, it's a hell of a debut. If he sticks the landing, this could be the launch of a new kind of leading man—one who can go toe-to-toe with trauma and touchdowns.
Would you sacrifice your mind for a shot at greatness?
