It Follows

🎥 Summary

In the spine-chilling indie horror “It Follows” by David Robert Mitchell, released in 2014, the act of sex does not symbolize death. Instead, it serves as a means to pass on something old, sluggish, and impossible to flee from. The film is set in Detroit where suburbs are falling into disrepair. It tracks the life of Jay Height (Maika Monroe), a 19-year-old who transforms from a serene state to a nightmarish one while going through the aftermath of what was supposed to be a simple innocent date, only to suffer the harshest consequences seemingly out of nowhere.

Jay engages in sexual activities with a boy she fancies. But later, during a life-altering stupor after the deed, he exposes the horrific secret.

Now, something is watching her every move.

It can morph into a friend, a stranger, or even a parent.

And it engages in a stroll.

One that never ceases.

And capturing her means death.

The only method to make it go is to pass it on.

And rely on the next target succumbing to the same fate.

This marks the start to a demise-filled journey for Jay and her friends, with haunting scenes of abandoned schools, dilapidated ice cream parlors, and desolate shorelines, as they try to uncover the secrets of a force persistent enough to wait patiently for its target outside of their homes.

🌟 Lead Performances

“Jay Height – Maika Monroe, often labelled as theater royalty, infuses Height with vulnerability and tenderness.” Semi-finalist of the Upstate New York Political Film Festival noted. Monroe has succeeded to illustrate a Final girl not strangulated by brutality and bloodshed, but enduring a silent painful endurance instead.

Paul (Keir Gilchrist) – Situated on the boundary between love and unreciprocated feelings is Paul, the childhood best friend who is intricately hurt and quiet in his devastation. His loyalty is almost tragic, as it seems love in It Follows is yet another form of sacrifice to be made.

Hugh/Jeff (Jake Weary) – Jeff is a demonstration of desperation personified, a shadow of the boy that puts the curse on Jay. A world of devastation resides in his expression, one that conveys the understanding that he knows what is to come, and that there’s no escaping from it.

🖋️ Themes and Tone

Through the lenses of decay and dread, existential inheritance takes shape in It Follows. The curse is so much more than an otherworldly STD; a supernatural metaphor for the unescapable truth of death and the shame that lingers with desire as well as the way trauma silently passes through time.

It Follows is enveloped in a tone that is dream-like and slow, hypnotic even. This is not a film riddled with jump-scares, but one filled with absolute and overwhelming dread. Even when the sun is out, there is an underlying feeling of unsafety. The monster is one that does not scream or run. Its only goal is to come.

🏚️ Aesthetic & Atmosphere

Accompanied by retro televisions, flip phones, and even e-readers shaped like seashells, It Follows utilizes a contradiction of modern and old tech to generate a sense of reality that feels timeless and eerie. The world portrayed alongside the creature’s emergence creates a feeling of being haunted long before it arrives.

As if detached and omnipresent, the camera glides effortlessly. The wide shots take their sweet time so you can search every single inch of the frame. Is that figure that is walking towards us… moving too slowly?

And then there’s the the score, a supercharged & intense nightmare. It pulses dread while slowly climbing to the height of terror without giving an indication.

Final Words

It Follows (2014) does not concern itself with scary monsters. Instead, it’s about the idea of inevitability creeping closer. No matter how fast you run, how many lovers you leave in your wakeand attempt to escape the relentless pursuit, this idea follows and lingers.