'Him' Is Disappointing, But Similar Horror 'Opus' Hits the Mark
Him, the gory new psychological thriller from Jordan Peele’s Monkey Paw Productions, is not a very good movie. The story of a college football star (Tyriq Withers) who’s sidelined by an injury and takes an invitation from his hero, a former footballer played by Marlon Wayans, to spend a marathon seven days training at his remote compound, Him is almost identical in plot and construction to Opus, a horror-thriller from earlier this year starring The Bear’s Ayo Edibiri. While it won’t be troubling this year’s Oscar race, Opus is a very good chiller which touches on many of the same themes (and even set pieces) as Him, but in a much smarter, more entertaining fashion.
Him and Opus Are Essentially the Same Movie
Opus concerns an inexperienced journalist (Edibiri) who’s inexplicably invited to the compound of elusive music legend Moretti (John Malkovich) to cover his first album release in decades. Of course, all is not as it first appears, and the jovial occasion gives way to bloodshed and ritual sacrifice. It’s the feature directorial debut of Mark Anthony Green, himself a journalist and a former editor of GQ. As led by Edibiri, with a supporting cast anchored by a knowingly ludicrous Malkovich and Juliette Lewis, as a preening, plumped-up entertainment reporter, Opus is a nifty thriller which knows exactly what it is and packs an unexpectedly potent sting in its tail, which takes to task the current obsession with the villains of true crime stories.
Green hits most of the satirical marks while delivering some genuine horror (a gag inspired by Takashi Miike’s Audition actually comes close to matching that film’s dread) while providing a potent commentary on the white elite’s sapping of power from Black artists. (The film’s most astonishing sequence centers around a stage show populated by a marionette Billy Holiday and a coterie of agents, played by puppet rats.) Opus is a classic Boy's Zone adventure tale (in this case, Girl's Zone) that functions primarily as Friday night blockbuster entertainment but also provides something to chew on the next morning.
Him hits many of the same notes in a far less coherent fashion. The message of the film seems to be the same: young artists of color are monopolized and eventually consumed by corporate America, here embodied by a riotous Julia Fox (the only sign of life, finally following through on her Uncut Gems promise) and a rash of older white men in formal attire. It’s hardly as potent or thought-provoking as the gently insidious tone of Opus, because from Him’s opening moments, we know exactly where it’s headed. Even those who have a high tolerance for horror-genre mumbo jumbo will find themselves counting down to the inevitable conclusion, an admittedly admirable feat of blood-letting prosthetics. Even the setting of the two films—an isolated compound in the middle of the desert surrounded by slavish, potentially dangerous fans—is identical. (Opus and Him were both filmed in New Mexico, presumably on the same spit of sand.)
Him Is Most Notable For Marlon Wayans' Vehement Defense
Unfortunately, Him has become most notable for Wayans having now twice gotten off his bike to lambaste the film’s critical and financial underperformance. He first took to Instagram days after the film’s release to point out that many of his derided movies have gone on to be hits. “Just to be clear… I respect critics,” Wayans wrote in the caption. “Their job is to Critique [sic]. I respect their work. It shapes our industry. But an opinion does not always mean it’s everyone’s opinion. Some movies are ahead of the curve. Innovation is not always embraced, and art is to be interpreted, and it’s subjective,” he said.
Then, earlier this week, Wayans took aim at Demon Slayer, the hyper-popular anime which topped the box office the weekend of Him’s release. “Can I say it? F--k anime!” Wayans said. “We came at number two! Him first! F--k anime! I was up against it, Him came out that same week against whatever it was…Demon Slayer! I want to wax your beard off your face,” he said of the movie.
A24/Courtesy Sundance Institute
Wayans' surprisingly defensive remarks have the uncomfortable patina of a star who knows their project didn’t turn out as well as it should’ve and is now hefting the problem on audiences. (Him grossed a bit over $25 million worldwide, while Demon Slayer has so far taken close to $600 million, so it probably would’ve triumphed regardless of its release date.) It's regrettable discourse, only because Wayans is one of the best things about Him, giving a joltingly against-type, utterly committed performance as former San Antonio Saviors QB Isaiah White. Following on from the actor’s unexpected turns in Sofia Coppola’s On the Rocks (2020), the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect (2021), and Air (2023), Him demonstrates a well-earned late-career gearshift for the Scary Movie mastermind.
Skip Him, Watch Opus
Though it shows promise in its opening half hour, Him can’t rise to the occasion it establishes for itself and instead descends into a montage of style with zero substance. None of it makes any true sense, and by the end, Tipping adopts a rushed religious metaphor in place of explaining any of the mysteries. Opus, which hit cinemas back in March and grossed a pitiful $2 million worldwide before becoming a mainstay of HBO Max’s Top 10 most-watched titles, mostly succeeds where Him fails. It’s highly entertaining and surprisingly transgressive, two qualities which rarely go together, and its final passage is so caustic and on-target it practically excuses any narrative deficiencies. If you find yourself craving an occult-tinged thriller to watch this Halloween season, you could do a lot worse than Opus.