‘Him’ director Justin Tipping explains the movie’s gory ending, and how it was almost even more terrifying

• Warning: Major spoilers ahead for “Him.”
• Director Justin Tipping said it took 40 versions in the edit room to get the movie’s ending right.
• Jordan Peele, who is a producer on the movie, gave notes and insight throughout the editing process.

“Him” is a twisted psychological thriller focusing on football quarterback phenom Cam Cade (Tyriq Withers) who isn’t just destined to go pro but is so good that he’s aligned to take the QB1 role from the sport’s G.O.A.T., Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans). That is, if he can get through White’s unconventional training.

In Justin Tipping’s horror movie, Cade travels to White’s compound to audition for the quarterback job. If all goes well, he is guaranteed a contract to take White’s spot on the team. But it’s quickly revealed that White’s training is demented, leaving Cade bloodied and questioning his sanity.

This all culminates in a blood-spattered ending that Tipping says took many passes in the edit room to get right.

Tipping told Business Insider that his goal for the ending was to make a statement. “How do you beat the weird, crazy shit that just came before?” he said.

The conclusion comes in two parts. First, Cade finds White tucked away in his “film room,” which turns out to be just a room where he sits and watches video of a crowd cheering his name. White tells Cade that he’s not ready to give up his spot on the team, which leads to the two having an all-out brawl.

“We knew we were building towards this very ritualistic film room where they have their gladiator fight to the death,” Tipping said. “It was very intentional to keep the fight in the film room all fists. Beating each other’s asses and colliding and snapping elbows.”

Ultimately, Cade kills White by beating him to a bloody pulp.

“Then it becomes, how do you beat that?” Tipping said of building out the second part of the ending. “How can we construct this so that it becomes full slasher, full promise of the genre?”

Cade leaves the film room and walks onto a makeshift football field. The team’s unnamed owner (Richard Lippert), Cade’s agent (Tim Heidecker), and White’s wife Elsie (Julia Fox) are on the other side of the field ready for Cade to come sign the contract. Between them is a giant pagan-like symbol and a buff man holding a sword surrounded by cheerleaders and a marching band.

“I wanted it to feel like this rite of passage, so I was pulling imagery from Super Bowls and the pomp and circumstance and the performative absurdity, but I also wanted to introduce a sword and the ritualistic nature,” Tipping said.

That’s when the big reveal happens: Cade’s whole life has been leading up to this moment. When he was a child, his late father made a deal with the team’s owner for him to one day become his star quarterback. Even Cade’s attack at the start of the movie, which left him with a head injury, was part of the plan, as it made Cade’s draft status questionable and therefore making it easier for the owner to sign him. This should be Cade’s moment of triumph, but he doesn’t see it that way. After the experience training with White, he doesn’t want any of it.

This leads Cade on a bloody rampage, killing everyone in sight in a sadistic manner (yes, he puts that sword to use) until he’s left alone on the field in blood-soaked ecstasy.

Tipping said he and editor Taylor Joy Mason made 40 different versions of the ending, and often turned to Jordan Peele, who’s a producer on the movie through his Monkeypaw Productions, as a fresh set of eyes.

“Once I had three versions, Jordan came in and I would show him and he would just react and give insight,” Tipping said. “That was the most fun, to be with someone like Jordan and just feeling creative, that anything goes.”

But what about all those other versions of the ending? Are they lost forever?

Tipping said there is an alternate ending that is even more horrific than the version in the final cut.

“We did shoot a traditional horror end, let me just put it that way,” Tipping teased. “So there is an alternate ending that will be available down the road.”

“Him” is now playing in theaters.

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