It Follows

Wow, I just got off of a very entertaining thrill ride called It Follows, a film written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, and I gotta tell ya, I haven't had a modern Horror film hit me like this in a very long time. It's well-shot, amazingly scored and features a cast of characters played by actors who are not only good at what they do, but look like ordinary people and not like the standard cheerleader and jock types we're used to seeing in these kinds of movies.

Another refresher is that we don't focus on the standard dumb teenager/young adult, and instead focus on fairly level-headed (or as close to level-headed as any of us were in our earliest 20's anyway) individuals who are forced to deal with a situation I don't even want to imagine myself in. This isn't a movie where you're going to see dumb kids making the same dumb mistakes we've seen a thousand times, but instead they make their own mistakes, due in part to their lack of familiarity with the creature they're dealing with. In a way it's a sort of allegory, with the lead girl being a fresh college student and feeling her way through adulthood, where every decision you make seems like the wrong one, no matter what you do.

I'll try to avoid spoilers here, but I will be touching on a scene here or there to cast some light of the various themes that can be pulled from the movie, so a minor spoiler or two is possible. So, with that in mind, read on at your own risk.

The movie starts with a girl running out of her house, frantic as her dad calls back from the house, asking if she's alright. Meanwhile, we notice her eyes focused on something in the direction of the camera. Something that the lady on the street next to her doesn't seem to notice. She runs back into the house, then runs back out a few seconds later with her keys, then hops in her car and drives away. Next, it's after dark and we see her sitting on a beach alone and her phone rings (it's interesting to note that this use of the cell phone is something you won't really see again) and she apologizes to her dad for being a bad daughter sometimes, and it becomes apparent that she's saying goodbye, having accepted her fate.

Skipping ahead, we meet our lead, Jay, played by Maika Monroe. She's swimming in the pool in her backyard without a care, minus the two neighborhood kids peeking in on her over the fence, but she doesn't even let that bother her, telling them with a smile that she sees them. Shortly after she's on a date with her new boyfriend, Hugh, played by Jake Weary, and everything is going pretty well. Watching this scene reminded me of how awkward first dates were when I was young. Even the best of first dates tend to have those awkward moments you can't get around when really getting to know someone for the first time. Very quickly though, once they get into the theater and sit down, ready to watch their movie, things take a turn. Hugh points out a girl in a yellow dress that Jay says she can't see. Hugh starts to panic and says they need to leave. Jay questions him about it outside, but he's deflective and won't tell her. To be concise, they do end up having a second date, where they have sex ... and then Hugh uses a chloroform rag to knock her out.

Now, here's where the meat of the story and the root for all of the movie's symbolism begins. Jay wakes up tied to a chair, scared and confused as Hugh talks to her and begins to tell her what he's done. There's this thing; it doesn't have a name, and he only knows it as, well, "It." He tells her that It will begin to follow her now, always at a walking pace and It can look like anyone. He warns her against going anywhere that only has one exit, because "It's slow, but It's not stupid." Then, after making sure she sees It and is convinced it's real, he pulls her away to his car and drives off, after suggesting that she has sex with someone else to pass it on. Apparently once it's passed on, It follows that person until they pass on the curse or It kills them. And after It kills someone, the last person in the chain is the next target. Oh, and only those touched by the curse can see It, and that's what makes It so terrifying.

The message(s) that this film tackles ... well, it doesn't shy away from anything. There are so many interpretations that can be gleaned from this movie it can make your head spin. It's the kind of thing you can watch with two other people and each of you can pull different meanings out of it, and none of them are any more right or wrong than the others. I wish I'd been able to watch it with a group the first time to see what my friends pulled from it, but I definitely plan to do that later. This movie has the kind of heart that Wes Craven's work is known for, and I applaud it for going the direction it went. Not to mention that Jay is, in my opinion, the best female lead in a Horror film since Nancy Callahan in A Nightmare on Elm Street. Yeah, I went there.

The last things I'm going to talk about are the period of the film, and the soundtrack. As far as the period goes, the director did a great job maintaining ambiguity. We see a cell phone or two, but the decor in the houses we see look very 80's or early 90's, which puts it somewhere between a nostalgia trip and our modern reality. It walks that line very well, and nothing ever feels out of place. Now, the soundtrack ... WOW. The composer is someone you may recognize if you've played the video game Fez, Disasterpiece. I already thought his work was good, but this film convinced me he's about a league past brilliant. Pulling a lot from John Carpenter's work, he weaves together a score that not only sends chills up your spine when it needs to, but conveys an almost dreamlike confusion at other times. I don't think I've ever been more impressed by the music in a Horror movie, ever.

I could go on, diving into the themes of the movie, talking about what Paul's relationship with Jay represents and maybe touch on the themes of sexuality throughout the movie, but instead I think I'll let you find that out for yourself. Do yourself a favor and watch this movie, preferably with a group, and really think about it. You won't regret it. I hope I've convinced you to give it a shot.