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Spoiler alert! We're discussing important plot points and the ending of the football horror movie “Him” (in theaters now), so beware if you haven’t seen it yet.
Star athletes are worshipped as minor deities in the real world. “Him,” however, goes the next step and actually works a god and a deep mythology into the brutal landscape of pro football.
Produced by Jordan Peele, the sports-centric psychological fright fest centers on Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers), a quarterback prospect with unlimited potential. The San Antonio Saviors want him as their next franchise player, but after sustaining a head injury, Cam’s draft stock is a little iffy. He’s sent to train at the remote compound of Saviors legend Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans) to see if he’s worthy of being the heir apparent.
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Amid violently bizarre practices and visually upsetting situations, Cam finally sees a bigger picture. Blood has been transfused from one greatest player to the next over multiple generations, and Cam is next in line. In fact, Cam has been groomed to take Isaiah’s spot since childhood, though Isaiah won’t retire easily.
Everything from alchemy and “Nosferatu” to Lance Armstrong’s blood-doping case inspired co-writer/director Justin Tipping’s concept of a supernatural succession for superstars. “It felt like the right zone for as crazy as we were getting, but also the religious (aspect): Growing up Catholic, we drink the blood of Christ every Sunday,” Tipping says. “This is pulling from all perspectives.”
Let’s dig into all the best “Him” spoilers, from that wild ending to the demon at the heart of the horror.
What happens in the ending of the horror movie ‘Him’?
Cam discovers that, to join the Saviors and leave this living hell, he has to defeat Isaiah. During their gladiator throwdown, Cam bashes his idol to death with a football helmet. He emerges on a field where cheerleaders, team owners and Isaiah’s conniving wife Elsie (Julia Fox) await so he can sign his contract. Instead, Cam refuses and uses a sword to slice and gut his enemies. He survives the ordeal but is left a bloody mess as he escapes.
“Fake blood is sticky,” Withers says with a laugh about that meaningful final scene. “It was a symbol of an athlete really choosing his own path to success and not abiding by other people's rules and not folding to other people's temptations. The ending is exactly what message needs to be out in the world, although it's a hyperbolized situation: choose your own route and be exactly who you need to be. The essence of ‘Him’ is being unapologetically yourself.”
Why does ‘Him’ have so much goat-headed imagery?
Something is not happy about Cam’s decision, though, because the young player’s agent (Tim Heidecker) gets exploded to pieces on a sacrificial pentagram.
“GOAT” means “greatest of all time” in sports terminology, but in "Him" it also references who's been at the center of the Saviors’ success over the years: Mammon, the lord of avarice and demon god of greed and money. It’s an occult pull that makes sense given pro sports, star players and multimillion-dollar contracts.
“There's TikToks where people like summon this guy, you can evoke him,” says Tipping, who includes various horned figures and goat visuals through the film. “We don't say the name out loud but it's implied.”
Is there a post-credits scene in ‘Him’?
Nope, but Tipping reveals that he wrote several different endings for “Him,” and one or two of them will be on the movie’s home-video release down the line. The one in the movie leans cathartic, though he wrote a version where Cam says yes. “That story was definitely more of a cautionary tale,” Tipping says. “Then I wrote this version, he says no and kills everybody.”
In the opening of the movie, as a child Cam is taught “real men” make sacrifices and “that that's what love is,” Tippling explains. Then at the end, the Saviors owner threatens to kill his family if he doesn’t sign. “For me, in that moment, (Cam) is saying to himself, ‘Well, even if I die or something happens, at least I'll have saved the next generation or another kid from being pulled.”
Even though it goes to some dark and weird places, Tipping feels “Him” winds up being "hopeful" with its climax. “It’s an end to a system. It is an answer. It is not the open-ended horror trope ending like he says yes and it's going to go on and the curse is never going to end,” the director says. "This felt like, no, it can end. It just takes courage.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Spoilers! Football film 'Him' dips into mythology with 'hopeful' ending
Reporting by Brian Truitt, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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