Storytelling for the Screen: HIM
Best Bet
Film/Movie
Lecture/Discussion/Panel/Talk/Q&A/Seminar
Pollock Theater
**Events may have been canceled or postponed. Please contact the venue to confirm the event.
Date & Time
Thu, Nov 06 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Address (map)
4429 SSMS UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106-4010
Venue (website)
Pollock Theater
What would you sacrifice to become the greatest of all time?
Directed by UCSB alumnus Justin Tipping and produced by Oscar winner Jordan Peele with Monkeypaw Productions, HIM (2025) is a chilling journey into the inner sanctum of fame, idolatry, and the pursuit of excellence at any cost.
Co-written by Tipping from a Black List screenplay by Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie, the film features an electrifying dramatic turn from Marlon Wayans and a breakout performance by Tyriq Withers as Cameron Cade, a rising quarterback who has devoted his entire identity to football.
On the eve of professional football’s annual scouting combine, Cam is brutally attacked by an obsessive fan, leaving him with a devastating brain injury.
Just as his dreams seem shattered, Cam receives a lifeline when his hero Isaiah White (Wayans), a legendary eight-time championship quarterback and cultural megastar, offers to train Cam at the isolated compound that Isaiah shares with his celebrity influencer wife, Elsie White (Julia Fox).
But as mentorship turns into manipulation, Isaiah’s charisma curdles into menace, sending his protégé down a disorienting rabbit hole that threatens far more than his career.
Filmmaker and UCSB alumnus Justin Tipping will join Carsey-Wolf Center interim director Ross Melnick (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) for a post-screening discussion of HIM.
