The Jordan Peele Horror Everyone Argued About Hits Netflix Today

Well, here’s a new addition to your Netflix queue, especially if you like your horror a bit messy and unpredictable. ‘Him,’ produced by Jordan Peele and directed by Justin Tipping, has landed on the streamer after not exactly setting the box office on fire.

Jordan Peele’s Latest: Streaming, But Not Universally Loved

Let’s not sugarcoat things: ‘Him’ made headlines mostly for dividing opinions. Critics and audiences didn't exactly hold hands on this one, and it shows in the numbers. Rotten Tomatoes has it stuck at a pretty brutal 31% approval (that’s from 229 reviews), though the audience ‘Popcornmeter’ is a little more forgiving at 56%. If you’re glutton for punishment, those kind of numbers tend to be catnip—there’s always something going on in a movie that gets that kind of split reaction.

Financially, things didn’t turn out much better. On a reported $27 million budget, ‘Him’ only scraped together about $28 million worldwide—not exactly the stuff studio execs dream about.

Wait, What Even Is This Movie?

Plot-wise, ‘Him’ sticks you with Cameron Cade, played by Marlon Wayans, who’s a rising football star just on the verge of breaking out professionally. Then things take a hard left, as he gets attacked by a deranged fan and ends up with a brain injury that could end his career before it ever really starts. At this point, the story gets a little ‘what is happening here?’

'Just when all seems lost, Cam receives a lifeline when his hero, Isaiah White, a legendary eight-time Championship quarterback and cultural megastar, offers to train Cam at Isaiah's isolated compound that he shares with his celebrity influencer wife, Elsie White. But as Cam’s training accelerates, Isaiah’s charisma begins to curdle into something darker, sending his protégé down a disorienting rabbit hole that may cost him more than he ever bargained for.'

In other words: imagine Friday Night Lights meets horror fever dream, with a heavy dose of fame’s darker side. It’s weird, it’s twisty, and it leans hard on cultish vibes and psychological breakdowns.

Who Shows Up in This Thing?

• Marlon Wayans as Cam — our unlucky football hero
• Tyriq Withers as Cam's friend (also named Cam, not confusing at all)
• Julia Fox as Elsie White, the influencer wife
• Tim Heidecker as Tom
• Jim Jefferies as Marco
• Guapdad 4000 (yes, that’s the credit) as Murph
• Tierra Whack as Adrienne

The screenplay was written by Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie—same guys who created ‘Limetown.’ Peele produced, naturally, along with the usual Monkeypaw Productions crew.

The Team Behind the Camera

The creative lineup includes Kira Kelly (cinematography), Taylor Mason (editing), and The Haxan Cloak on music. The film’s production and executive producing squad includes Ian Cooper, Win Rosenfeld, Jamal M. Watson, David Kern, and Kate Oh.

The Bottom Line

‘Him’ is officially streaming on Netflix as of today. It’s got star power, some wild genre swings, a headline-making producer, and a reputation for splitting the room right down the middle. If you want something with more going on than your average horror flick—and don’t mind a few narrative corner-cuts—you might want to give this one a look. At the very least, you’ll have something to argue about when it’s over.