Extreme passion, devotion and obsession are common within the sports community, but if there’s one sport that exemplifies the intensity of cult-like traditions in American culture, it’s football.

To fans, it brings people together, showcasing their dedication to the team and certain players. It’s a way of escaping reality by immersing themselves in the game, but it’s more than just a game in football culture.

It’s everything; a unique take that director Justin Tipping was trying to convey in his recent horror film “HIM.”

“HIM,” produced by Jordan Peele, centers around a promising young football player who is attacked by an unhinged fan and suffers a severe brain injury. When all seems lost, the young athlete receives an invitation to train at an isolated compound owned by an aging quarterback and champion. As training begins, it escalates into a blood-chilling journey into the inner sanctum of fame and the pursuit of excellence at any cost.

Let’s be clear: none of us has ever heard of a concept like this before. When the promotions were released to theaters, I had high hopes for it, believing it would explore the horrors behind football.

However, the story didn’t really take any risks to make it memorable or compelling. We’ll get into that later, but for now, let’s briefly discuss what worked in this film.

It’s safe to say that the film relied heavily on visuals, which cinematographer Kira Kelly beautifully captured. Some shots made the audience feel isolated, and the camera did a great job revealing certain moments that were only visible through the protagonist’s eyes, representing a theme of fighting inner demons.

Another thing that stood out was the X-ray vision effect, revealed by Tipping in an interview with Dead Meat. The trial-and-error experience involved rigging together a thermal camera and a cinema camera. According to Tipping, it involved a lot of toying around to capture the actors in a sinister way through impressive practical effects.

The film had some interesting themes and elements. We are introduced to Cameron Cade, played by Tyriq Withers, who wants to be the next rising football star in America. As a kid, he was pushed to become a professional athlete by his now deceased, overbearing father. Besides carrying his father’s legacy by training endlessly to become the next big thing, he strives to become the next Isaiah White, the goat, portrayed by Marlon Wayans.

The word “goat” is used multiple times throughout the film to represent the symbolism of sacrifice and sin, a bold and captivating choice to make, considering Cameron has to make sacrifices to become successful. It is shown visually in Isaiah’s compound through glimpses of a goat’s skull. Goats can also symbolize rebellious and destructive behavior, which is shown during the intense training scenes.

Tipping does a decent job of slowly unraveling the sinister sequences through the use of the goat symbolism, but it feels a little over-the-top at times – like, we get it. Isaiah is the goat; we get the point.

The film also manages to incorporate themes of idolatry, shown in the beginning of the story where a young Cameron Cade watches a football game with his family, idolizing a team called the Saviors, and their star quarterback, Isaiah White.

Cameron is hypnotized by the television screen as Isaiah’s face pops up. At one point in the scene, the camera reveals a shrine of Isaiah and the Saviors consisting of posters, bobble heads and candles. This suggests that the Cade family worships this team like gods, which can be seen in real life, where people create shrines for their favorite celebrities, fictional characters or teams.

Idolatry is seen as a corruptive mechanism that hypnotizes an individual into thinking their idol is a god, and people should aspire to be like them. However, an idol can be deceitful as well, allowing you to believe that their intentions come from a good place. They say “don’t meet your heroes” for a reason.

Additionally, other themes integrated in the film include the cost of failure, the cult of masculinity, mentorship and vulnerability. But honestly, all of these themes did not mean anything because the film failed to convey the overall message. As a result, it ended up turning into another basic cult film that failed to take risks and played it safe.

The story also moved incredibly fast, leading to terrible pacing and shallow character development. It’s tough to root for Cameron because there was nothing about his character that stood out. It felt like his motives were geared towards driving the plot forward rather than allowing the plot to move realistically through the character’s actions. He doesn’t make any ethical changes that allow him to evolve during the story. Instead, he’s depicted as a static character with dull motivations and insignificant depth.

This does not mean that Wither’s performance was terrible by any means. He did an excellent job portraying Cameron; it felt like there wasn’t much to learn from his character since it was underdeveloped.

It was also refreshing to see Marlon Wayans portray a serious role, rather than the comedic characters that he’s used to. He was the only character whose actions drive the story forward; however, not much is revealed visually about what put Isaiah in this situation in the first place.

Everything up to the final sequence of the film made absolutely no sense. The ending was not surprising or inevitable. It wasn’t highly effective in a way that allowed audiences to think deeply about the conclusion. Instead, the story appeared weak due to unresolved conflict and a lack of character development.

Other than that, it was refreshing to watch subtle performances by a diverse cast, creative cinematography, as well as stunning practical effects and thought-provoking themes.