It Follows.

Review #2277: It Follows.

Cast: 

Maika Monroe (Jaime "Jay" Height), Keir Gilchrist (Paul Bolduan), Olivia Luccardi (Yara Davis), Lili Sepe (Kelly Height), Daniel Zovatto (Greg Hannigan), Jake Weary (Hugh / Jeff Redmond), Bailey Spry (Annie Marshall), Debbie Williams (Mrs. Height), and Ruby Harris (Mrs. Redmond) Written and Directed by David Robert Mitchell.

Review: 

"The idea for It Follows came from a dream when I was a kid, but I sort of built on it later. And at a certain point when I was working out the story, in the back of my mind, I thought that it would be nice to have [the monster] be something that can move between people. It just sort of made sense to me that if it was something that was passed through sex, it would be a way to link the characters — to connect them both physically and emotionally. And it tied into some of the other larger themes that I was working towards."

It is not much of an understatement to say that some horror movies like to have sex mean something in their tales of suspense and/or terror. Here we are with a Detroit-shot film filmed by a Michigan native (specifically Clawson). After graduating from Florida State University, he became a feature director with The Myth of the American Sleepover (2010). Mitchell began writing this film in 2011 when working on a separate film he intended as a follow-up, but this would end up getting more development as a film with personal ties (this anxiety dream basically came about around the time his parents were getting divorced) to go along with a premise that seemed weird to describe out loud to others. The look of the film to go along with the monster were inspired by the photography of Gregory Crewdson, known for his large-scale prints of staged scenes in suburban settings. The film was given a premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014 before eventually getting a theatrical release in 2015. Mitchell followed up this film with Under the Silver Lake (2018) to go with a future release of Flowervale Street (2025). Just last year, it was announced that a sequel to It Follows would come up with They Follow with Mitchell returning to direct, presumably to shoot in 2025.

Mitchell's interest in this film is one where love and sex are ways to at least push the inevitability of death away for a time. One sees plenty within the wide-angle shots used in a film that deliberately looks as one wrapped in its own time, starting with a seashell e-reader. This is a film all about the nature of trying to make one's own choice when it comes to being together with flesh (so not quite body horror, but horror of life sure is something). One tries to stay sane with the company of others when confronting a monster that is as single-minded as people can sometimes be when it comes to one-track mind carnal interest. The creature threat is quite interesting because it is two-fold: it is one that you have to take considerable time to really find anything to touch it and also something that comes up for those who have had this thrust upon them out of the blue. Could you imagine having both the dilemma of a terrible monster lurking anywhere you may be and wondering what one did to deserve such a quandary (or why anyone would do it at all, starting right with knocking someone out just to explain it). This is the kind of movie with a group that talks aloud about some sort of "divide" between the suburbs and the city as a whole. Monroe does manage to lead the way with righteous timing as the one target of this sexual fable that you might notice doesn't have many older adults. It is their story, and Monroe deals with that fear in engaging human fashion. The others do just as well in trying to adjust to the hang-ups one would expect to see. It is a carefully paced movie at 100 minutes that keeps one's attention in the eyes of perpetual terror that keeps one imagining what could come next even among the hang-ups in a film that comes and goes without needing to play into too much for explanations, gore, or even needing to go all-in on its ending. This sexually transmitted demon reflects the inevitability of it all and trying to merely pass it off as much as possible much in the same way one tries to pass off a romance as one to try and enjoy the ride as much as possible. I'm not sure where it lands among its era for horror, but it does have a clear appeal in riveting execution. It makes for a solid feature based on hang-ups and suspense in the human element for a pretty good time.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.