Director: David Robert Mitchell
Writer: David Robert Mitchell
Genre: Psychological Horror, Supernatural Horror
Starring: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe
Runtime: 100 minutes
Language: English
Awards: Nominated for multiple awards, including Best Horror Film at the Saturn Awards; won Best Film at several independent film festivals.
Overview
It Follows is a brilliantly made psychological horror movie that incorporates supernatural elements and a deeply deep-seated dread. It is a quintessential American film in the sense that It Follows builds it’s own genre through it’s distinct features of retro inspired mood and hair-raising synth music. Starting from the Elderly couple and climaxing with the gunshot in the lake, this curse like movie is one of the most disturbing sights from the twenty first century.
It is not your ordinary horror movie that us relying on jump scares and bursts of gore, It Follows builds a strange notion much like uneasiness and through its cellphone, surrounds itself with monstrous metaphors that represent much deeper fears. The self traumatizing death and the crazier one full of sexual fear. And its not over yet, the film leaves many pieces unrevealed making it a thoroughly unwanted and thought provoking sight.
Summary of the Infordmation
The narrative centers around Jay Height (Maika Monroe), a carefree college student whose life transforms into a living nightmare after a seemingly innocuous date with her new boyfriend Hugh (Jake Weary). After a car date, Hugh knocks Jay out with chloroform, subsequently binding her to a wheelchair in an abandoned building.
There, he explains a horrific truth: he has cursed her. An entity – which he refers to as “It” – will now pursue her endlessly, stalking her at a slow, but relentless, stretch. If “It” touches her, she would die painfully, only for “It” to proceed and hunt give the pass to the person who cursed them. The only escape is to sleep with someone else and transferring the curse.
Jay is eventually freed, but the paranoia sets in as she begins seeing “It” – the body of a shapeshifter who can morph into anyone, be it strangers or even acquaintances. With her friends and her sister Kelly (Lili Sepe), childhood friend Paul (Keir Gilchrist), and neighbor Greg (Daniel Zovatto), she tries escaping the entity while dealing with the moral struggle of passing the curse on.
As “It” mercilessly chases, Jay and her companions try searching for a method to defeat it—but the movie itself leaves the viewers wondering if a solution exists at all. Themes & Symbolism 1. The Incomprehensible quality of Death “It” works as a concept that summarizes death effortlessly. No matter where you run to, how swift you are, and what measures you take to outsmart it, death is bound to find you. The dreadful yet slow moving being in the film is a metaphor for the ineluctability of time and death. 2. The Unpleasant Truths About Intercourse & It’s Aftereffects This film has been critiqued quite a lot and many theories behind its metaphors have been provided focusing fear of Intercourse or closeness. The curse itself is said to be transmitted through copulation, serving as a parallelism to STI and the way people tend to “pass on” emotional trauma. Although, the daring topic of moralizing sex is avoided throughout, sex is examined and dissected for its psychological burden.
The Loss Of Innocence & Coming-Of-Age Fears
It Follows, like many classic horror movies (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween), is based on the restlessness that comes within one’s teenage and early adult years. In the beginning, Jay is carefree and thrilled about having a new love interest. After the curse, her views become burdened with knowledge, which alters her perception of the world.
The Uncertainty Of Identity
The entity shifts itself into different people and at times can present themselves as a friend or a stranger, or even as a scary figure from Jay’s past. This form shifting plays on never ending trust issues where you feel anxious about who is a friend and whom to really look out for.
Performances & Character Analysis
Maika Monroe as Jay Height
Monroe won fans over with her performance as a mesmerizing final girl by being equally volatile and tender hearted. She shows that although she is terrorized by a maniac, she remains strong while being chased down and pursues in a confrontational rant.
After starring in The Guest, Monroe quickly earned the title of a modern scream queen and has been known ever since for her shout-out role in 2014.
Keir Gilchrist as Paul
Jay’s childhood friend Paul is emotionally supported, albeit it is unreciprocated. Paul has a crush on Jay, which makes his love feel rather complicated. His readiness to single-handedly take on Jay’s burden presents moral dilemmas concerning love, sacrifice, and self-love. In what ways does one truly take on a burden?
Daniel Zovatto as Greg
Greg embodies a new form of reaction towards the curse: a deeply flawed mixture of skepticism and deep-seated daring. His ultimate demise offers a glaring glimpse into the dangers associated with how one can misconstrue the horror of “It.”
Jake Weary as Hugh/Jeff
Hugh is particularly important as he is the first to curse Jay, making him integral to the plot. While everything he does is terrible to behold, it is hard to not sympathize with his panic. Desperate and racing at breakneck speed, he may have just been another victim trying vainly to escape a fate that had already sealed his doom.
Cinematography & Music
- Retro Aesthetic & Dreamlike Atmosphere
With its serving of ancient televisions, rotary phones and decade-centered houses from the 1970s , the film creates an eerie but uncanny feeling detached from time. The feeling is lucid and soft, but starkly unsettling at the same time.
Mike Gioulakis, the cinematographer, made use of wide-angle shots paired with long takes to draw attention to the creepy silence surrounding the world, compelling the audience to always look out for background elements or “It”.
- Synth Score by Disasterpeace
The retrofied synth-heavy score is brought to life through the pulsating bumper that captures pain in such a vivid way and looms in mystery, creating the same appreciation many have for classic John Carpenter horror scores (Halloween).
As a bonus, Disasterpiece provides a glimpse into the world of dread in the film and gives a unique twist into normal scenes giving the impression stills where nothing genuinely happens is turned into something horrific.
Critical Reception & Legacy
Rotten Tomatoes: 95% (Fresh)
Metacritic: 83 (Metacritic’s Universal Acclaimed Score)
Upon the release of It Follows, it was immediately recognized as one of the most chilling and frightening horror films of the decade. The film’s psychological elements coupled alongside its cinematography and score received admiration from critics.
Positive Reviews:
The AV Club: “A chilling horror film that leaves a mark on the viewer effectively. ”
Empire Magazine: “They stand as some of the most adventurous and distinct horror films to come out in decades with their perfect balance of tension with terror.”
The New York Times: “A nightmare that is set in film which is eerie, unyielding and deeply disturbing.”
Impact on Horror Cinema
It aided in the creation of a new step of elevated horror along with Babadook, Hereditary, and The Witch.
It led to debates and inquire related to horror bibliographies about its use as the metaphor for some big societal and psychological issue.
Behind-The-Scenes & Production Notes
Director David Robert Mitchell crafted It Follows based on a reoccurring terrifying dream he once experienced as a child where there is someone or something that is always walking toward him, irrespective of wherever he used to go.
- Filmed In Detroit: The decaying urban landscape adds to the film’s eerie, isolated feeling to an already strange setting.
- Practical Effects: The film’s chilling realism is because of the fact that it uses practical effects as opposed to CGI.
Final Remarks: Do you want to watch it?
It Follows stays with the viewer, scarring them with anxiety more than as a conventional slasher would—it is much more deeply entwined in psychological horror. The film is sorely enhanced because it contains very rich symbolism and excellent cinematography, so fans of psychological horror will absolutely adore it.
It will be much more enjoyable, if you:
✅ Want a movie with atmosphere and dread filled visuals like the Shining.
✅ Deep slow build horror like The Witch or Hereditary.
✅ Influences from older horror like Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, or Friday the 13th.
You may not enjoy it, if you:
❌ Want fast pace horror with lots of jump scares.
❌ Care little for open ended conclusions and ambiguous story telling.
Movies that follow:
- The Witch (2015) – Another one had done atmospheric horror that viewers love.
- Hereditary (2018) – Delving the depths of family trauma and slow-burn horror fans love.
- The Babadook (2014) – A horror movie revolving around motherhood and loss through metaphor. The Babadook is definitely not one to miss.
- Under the Silver Lake (2018) – David Robert Mitchell’s first bold step into the neo-noir mystery genre.
