Justin Tipping is the director here, but most people might think that Jordan Peele is the director. Peele is instead the producer. Yet, this film feels as if Jordan Peele were the one in charge. Peele released a horror film called Us (2019), which was about a Black person reckoning with a darker part of themselves, as well as the lengths one would go for a better life or to get what one wants. In that regard, this film is a kind of spiritual sequel or it could be the next installment in what could be a thematic trilogy or series of some type. As such, it feels like a film Peele would direct. The thematic connection ties this film to Us, along with the one word title that is simply a pronoun.
Screenwriters Skip Bronkie and Zack Akers originally called this film Goat, which is an acronym for "greatest of all time." It's a reference to an athlete who is the absolute best at what they do. In this case, the sport in question is football. Bronkie and Akers have crafted something that isn't a rousing inspiration like Remember the Titans (2000) or even a heartbreaking drama like Friday Night Lights (2004). It's instead a horror flick, which is probably why Jordan Peele bought the film rights. It's been pointed out that a sports horror film is incredibly rare. It's arguably the first set in the world of the NFL or that of American professional football.
Tyriq Withers, in real life, was a college football player who attended Florida State University. He graduated from FSU in 2022 where he transitioned into acting. He appeared in the series The Game (2021), which is a show about the world of football. He had a standout role in Atlanta (2016), in its third season, which had dark satirical themes. This film could also be considered a satire to some degree. This film is also Withers' second feature this year and his second, mainstream horror after his supporting role in the reboot, I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025). Withers' character in that reboot was a throwaway, a veritable nothing burger. Tipping's film puts Withers in the center. Tipping also puts Withers within an almost homoerotic gaze in which Withers is either shirtless or nude for a majority of his scenes.
Here, Withers plays Cameron Cade, a college football player who is hoping to go pro. He's one of the top prospects to be drafted. People consider him one of the best and the potential to be the "goat." Cameron's father raised Cameron to do whatever it takes to achieve the goal of becoming the greatest player in the NFL. His father is currently deceased, but Cameron is determined to fulfill his father's dream and do his father proud, no matter what. Even when Cameron suffers a traumatic brain injury, one requiring him to have staples in his head, and even though doctors recommend he doesn't play any more, Cameron is still determined to keep going.
Marlon Wayans (G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra and Scary Movie) stars as Isaiah White, the quarterback for the San Antonio Saviors. Isaiah is considered to be the goat. He's currently the greatest NFL player. He has eight championship rings. He has a fan club that's like a cult and that would literally kill for him. He's ridiculously rich and has his own compound out in the desert somewhere, presumably in Texas, even though this film was shot in New Mexico.
There's talk that Isaiah is going to retire. Despite Isaiah being in great shape and being like a god on the field, he's being told to step down and get off the gridiron. The San Antonio Saviors are thinking about signing Cameron, ostensibly to replace Isaiah. For some reason, Cameron is told to go to Isaiah's compound and train before he can be signed. This aspect though felt weird, given how Isaiah feels about not wanting to retire or be replaced. It makes no sense as to why Isaiah would agree and help train Cameron.
At first, it seems as if Isaiah might sabotage Cameron and do what he can to undermine this young player. It seems as if Cameron's training might be a type of torture, one designed to drum him out of the league, not shepherd him into it. Yes, the training does become extreme and brutal, as Isaiah becomes an over-the-top drill sergeant. The brutal training is no doubt meant to emphasize the overall criticism of the brutality of the sport and satirize it. Except, as it plays out, the brutality isn't exacted upon Cameron. It's exacted upon others. It could be that Cameron is instead being subjected to psychological horror, which does seem to be the case, but the film, either through Withers' acting or Tipping's direction, doesn't depict any kind of true spiral or mental breakdown on Cameron's part. If anything, we see Cameron more primed for taking Isaiah's position than before.
Wayans gives an entertaining performance. He's the most entertaining and lively thing here. He can be at times very genuine and sincere. He can also be very creepy and scary, which is required in a horror film. The problem becomes a failure to understand the actions or motivation of his character. Yes, there's an enigmatic nature to Isaiah, which is fine, but the ending is meant to clarify but it doesn't. In fact, the ending only adds a bunch of mythical lore that only confuses, mainly because it feels like it comes out of nowhere. Literally, supernatural stuff happens at the end that isn't set up or even explained.
I'm not even sure what the ending is meant to mean for Withers' character of Cameron. Up until two seconds before the final scene, Cameron seems determined to do whatever he has to do to get into the NFL. Then, the final scene seems to be a rejection of the NFL and the film doesn't do enough to sell that switch. Yes, the game of football is being critiqued and satirized throughout this film, but Cameron himself never seems to fully question whether football is something he wants or if it's really all that bad, despite the brutality. He's always gung-ho about playing professionally. He says over and over that he's willing to sacrifice everything and do whatever, even up to the penultimate scene. For him to reject in the final moments, it feels like a complete left turn that the film never sets up. Even if he didn't reject it, some doubt or wavering on his part would have been good, given all that he sees and experiences.
Tipping's film also could have gone the way of Mark Anthony Green's Opus (2025), which was a critique or satire of celebrity, particularly music celebrity. Opus is too a horror film about a young Black person who is taken to a secluded place out in the desert and experiences odd or what could be deemed psychological manipulations. Green's film was meant to show you what people are willing to do to be next to celebrity and literally feed off it. Tipping's film could have been about football celebrity and how people might want to feed off it as well. It felt like Tipping was going that way with a sequence where Cameron is so-called "feeding" off another football player, not literally but through blood transfusions. Yet, that metaphor isn't developed well enough to be sold. Tipping could argue that it's there in a subtle way, but given the over-the-top nature and in-your-face motifs and images throughout, it makes no sense to be subtle about this one thing, which would have helped to sell the ending.
Rated R for strong bloody violence, sexual material, nudity and some drug use.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 36 mins.
In theaters.