Director: David Robert Mitchell Starring: Maika Monroe Writer: David Robert Mitchell | 4.5/5 It Follows You are a kid. Somehow or another, you’ve slipped past your parents and saw your first horror film. You play tough so no one thinks you were scared, but then you go home and it is time to turn off the lights. Maybe you left the bathroom light on and you begin the night confident. The longer you lay there, though, the more engrossed you are by your dread. It starts in your head and soon makes its way through your entire body. You lay frozen, scared to move your leg over to the cold, untouched side of your bed, fearing your foot may find some unwelcome guest. You are so tense that any movement would unhinge the coiled spring that is your nerves. An acorn hits your roof. For a second, you think you are dead, but with that jump comes a wave of relief. It was only an acorn. Now imagine the acorn never falling and bringing with it your relief. You are doomed to lay in a constant state of terror. That is what watching David Robert Mitchell’s glorious It Follows feels like. If the movie contains any quick release, it is in the opening scene. A strange girl runs outside, frantic and disheveled. She hops in the car, parks at the beach, and welcomes her fate. What follows is 100 minutes of Mitchell slowly tightening a screw that he never intends to undo. The technique, both technical and psychological, found in It Follows is unrivaled by anything that has been released so far this year. Mitchell deserves credit for mining such an original film out of ideas that have long been considered musty. Namely, the horror trope of sex leading to a gruesome and guaranteed death (for the girl). |
The premise is practically groan-worthy, but just listen. We are introduced to the ghoul in question early on. After Jay (Maika Monroe, fabulous) decides to have sex with her boyfriend, he informs her that she is now "it" in the most sinister game of tag ever put on film. Until she has sex again, tagging someone else, a shape-shifting, slow-moving monster will pursue her tirelessly until they catch and kill her. The zombie-esque monster can appear to be anyone, from a stranger to someone the host loves dearly. It’s a monster that strikes all-consuming dread and paranoia on both Jay and the audience.
What sets this take on the old idea so far ahead of its counterparts is the dimension it gives both its characters and the act of sex. Yes, intercourse is what dooms you to a life of running, but it is also an act that can set you free. It’s a deep thought that can (and should) be interpreted differently by every viewer. The course of Jay’s actions draw her closer to those she cares about - Keir Gilchrist’s timid Paul, a childhood friend with a mad crush - and pushes her away from those who don’t mean as much - Daniel Zovatto’s Greg.
Yes, sex brings Jay way more problems than it takes, but that is just the way it works in horror movies. Actually, the way Mitchell pulls it off feels more honorary of his forebears than lazy. John Carpenter’s Halloween is the most obvious influence, but It Follows has a further reach. The slow pace of the ghoul owes a debt to horror monsters like zombies or Jason Voorhees. They are easy to outrun, but they are always on the move…and they always know where you are. One of the most thrilling takeaways from the film is the score by Disasterpeace, which sounds like eerie John Carpenter strains remixed through a fuzz box and an 808. This is a movie that would simply not be the same without its long string of influences.
That’s not to say the people behind It Follows lack originality and technical proficiency. Quite the contrary, actually. Mitchell employs a great deal of chilling tricks, most effectively a 360 degrees - sometimes 720 - camera pan. He gives us the full panorama of Jay’s surroundings, leaving it up to us to spot that one lone person slowly gaining ground on her. Sometimes she sees them coming; sometimes she has her back turned. Sometimes the “it” is obviously evil, a bloodied and battered naked woman with black eyes; and then sometimes you are not even sure if anyone is there. Maybe it’s just a shadow or a dark figure in the trees. Wherever it is, one fact never changes: it’s out there and it is coming.
Matching the director in ambition is his principal actors. Monroe, last seen in the excellent psycho thrilled The Guest, ups her game and earns her place as a leading lady. She is not just another variation of Jamie Lee Curtis’ character in Halloween or one of the many girls made out to be sluts in the cabin-in-the-woods horror sub-genre. In the same fashion that Mitchell borrows and melds elements from films from the past, Monroe is an inspired combination of a lot heroines from terror movies of old. That same standard of dimension is seen in Jay’s core group of friends as well. No one plays a simple throwaway character. Everyone is amazing. It Follows is amazing. Do not miss your chance to see it.
What sets this take on the old idea so far ahead of its counterparts is the dimension it gives both its characters and the act of sex. Yes, intercourse is what dooms you to a life of running, but it is also an act that can set you free. It’s a deep thought that can (and should) be interpreted differently by every viewer. The course of Jay’s actions draw her closer to those she cares about - Keir Gilchrist’s timid Paul, a childhood friend with a mad crush - and pushes her away from those who don’t mean as much - Daniel Zovatto’s Greg.
Yes, sex brings Jay way more problems than it takes, but that is just the way it works in horror movies. Actually, the way Mitchell pulls it off feels more honorary of his forebears than lazy. John Carpenter’s Halloween is the most obvious influence, but It Follows has a further reach. The slow pace of the ghoul owes a debt to horror monsters like zombies or Jason Voorhees. They are easy to outrun, but they are always on the move…and they always know where you are. One of the most thrilling takeaways from the film is the score by Disasterpeace, which sounds like eerie John Carpenter strains remixed through a fuzz box and an 808. This is a movie that would simply not be the same without its long string of influences.
That’s not to say the people behind It Follows lack originality and technical proficiency. Quite the contrary, actually. Mitchell employs a great deal of chilling tricks, most effectively a 360 degrees - sometimes 720 - camera pan. He gives us the full panorama of Jay’s surroundings, leaving it up to us to spot that one lone person slowly gaining ground on her. Sometimes she sees them coming; sometimes she has her back turned. Sometimes the “it” is obviously evil, a bloodied and battered naked woman with black eyes; and then sometimes you are not even sure if anyone is there. Maybe it’s just a shadow or a dark figure in the trees. Wherever it is, one fact never changes: it’s out there and it is coming.
Matching the director in ambition is his principal actors. Monroe, last seen in the excellent psycho thrilled The Guest, ups her game and earns her place as a leading lady. She is not just another variation of Jamie Lee Curtis’ character in Halloween or one of the many girls made out to be sluts in the cabin-in-the-woods horror sub-genre. In the same fashion that Mitchell borrows and melds elements from films from the past, Monroe is an inspired combination of a lot heroines from terror movies of old. That same standard of dimension is seen in Jay’s core group of friends as well. No one plays a simple throwaway character. Everyone is amazing. It Follows is amazing. Do not miss your chance to see it.