For an athlete, what does it take to become the greatest of all time?

Does it take natural talent?

Does it take determination and a willingness to keep playing and practicing through the pain?

Does it take going to an isolated desert training camp and getting regular injections of someone else’s blood?

That was the question asked by Him, a so-called “sports horror” film that came out in September of this year.

Tyriq Withers plays Cam Cade, a college football player who is on the verge of turning professional.  Every one is expecting Cam to be the number one pick at the upcoming league draft …. or at least, they are up until Cam is struck in the back of the head by a man wearing a goat costume.  Cam suffers a severe concussion.  The doctors warn his mother that another severe brain injury could end his career but both Cam and his family are determined for him to turn pro.  Even when Cam was a child, his father was grooming him to become a football star.  Cam grew up idolizing Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), a college quarterback who came back from a terrible injury, turned professional, and who has since led the San Antonio Saviors to eight championships.

In fact, Isaiah is willing to train with Cam!  Isaiah is considering retirement and he thinks that Cam could be a worthy replacement.  Cam travels out to the desert compound, where Isaiah lives with his staff and his wife (Julia Fox).  After making his way through the groupies who are angry at the thought of anyone trying to replace Isaiah on the team, Cam begins to train with his idol.  Isaiah spends a lot of time talking about Roman gladiators and how tough it is to be black quarterback.  He pushes Cam to his limits, forcing him to become a more aggressive and a more arrogant player.  Isaiah shows Cam that it takes more than just having talent to be the GOAT.  Instead, it’s an entire lifestyle.  Cam starts to have bizarre visions while getting regular shots (“for the pain”) from Isaiah’s doctor.  Eventually, Cam learns the truth about how great players are created and about how success can come at the cost of one’s soul.

Him is definitely a flawed film.  A major problem is that neither Marlon Wayans nor Tyriq Withers really have the screen presence to be believable in their roles.  Wayans, in particular, seems miscast and he gives a rather one-note performance as a character who is supposed to be as charismatic as he is athletic.  (Wayans comes across as being neither charismatic nor particularly athletic.)  The script attempts to deal with just about every controversy there is about football but it often does so in the most shallow, perfunctory way possible.  The whole gladiator thing?  We’ve all heard it before.

That said, the film’s narrative is so over-the-top (and, I believe, intentionally so) and the direction is so excessively stylish that it does hold your attention.  For all of the film’s flaws, the compound is a wonderfully ominous location and the use of X-ray shots to show us concussions and twisted limbs does rather forcefully drive home the point that football is not a gentle game.  Him may not be good but it’s just ludicrous enough to be watchable.