It Follows (2015) - Review
Originally published February, 2017
It's been something of a running joke that, if you have sex in a horror movie, you're basically signing your death certificate. Wes Craven's self-aware slasher, Scream, brought it up numerous times, and you'd know this to be the case if you've seen any of the Friday the 13thmovies. But what about taking that horror trope and making it that much more of a literal metaphor? What if, by having sex, that really DOES make a murderous killer stalk you? It Follows is a small, simple film, that uses that very idea and rolls with it.
When It Follows first came out, it got a lot of positive attention from critics and viewers alike. Critical praise can be a little difficult for horror films to achieve, so I was anxious to see it for myself. While I can't say I agree with everything It Follows does, it still had some significant strengths that kept me intrigued to the end.
Be prepared for a lot of characters looking at things, or looking at nothing at all
Pros
Dreamlike tone established through the cinematography, direction, and editing
Vibrant colors, intentionally irregular pacing to keep you on your toes, and interesting camera angles
Soundtrack by Disasterpiece is brilliant and perfect for the intended tone
A relentless and menacing monster with the right amount of ambiguity
Cons
Horror characters are still horror characters and do some arbitrarily dumb things
Takes too long for the characters to finally accomplish much, or for them to mentally catch up with the audience
Plot & Thoughts
It Follows is a simple horror movie that functions on a simple metaphor. There's a thing (monster) that exists and slowly stalks its prey. Who it stalks is determined by an ambiguous rule similar to how the ghost killed people in The Ring. It stalks whomever is the first new person to have sex with a "carrier." I say carrier because the obvious metaphor is that the monster is an STD, more or less. If you were to compare it to HIV, it would be if HIV were capable of only spreading to the first other person the host slept with, it only developed into AIDS if you didn't give it to someone else.
Doesn't that look comfy?
The rules of who it follows, and the limitations of the creature, are vague and uncertain, as it should be. All we're told is that if you have It, then it will follow you to the corners of the earth. If It gets to you, you're dead. However, It moves slowly, so if you can put distance between yourself and It, you can buy some time. Once you have It, you can't get rid of It. You can only give it to someone else, who can only give it to someone else. If those successors die, then It starts stalking you again. These rules raise a lot of questions that are never answered, but in the end, it's not really important to know. You just need to know that It follows.
The biggest weakness this movie has is that it stretches its premise too thin by the end. When I finally reached the credits, I felt like it could have ended about 30 minutes earlier and not have impacted the overall experience much. There are a lot, a lot, of lingering shots and scenes where characters are just looking out into the distance. This isn't inherently a problem, because it meshes well with the tone of the film, but it also drags the movie on. After so many of these dragging, sedentary shots, I was surprised when the characters tried to do anything proactive. Even when they finally do something, they don't do much to prove anything more than we already knew about It. In this respect, I would have preferred that the characters became more proactive sooner, instead of fumbling around with the idea of what It was.
Tension develops whenever someone approaches in the background
Regardless of its weaknesses, the strengths more than make up for it. I really enjoyed how It Follows was shot and edited. The whole movie has a dream-like quality, similar to a David Lynch film. There are numerous shots that are particularly angled to add a minor surreal perspective to the experience. There are also several lengthy one-shot takes to add to its tension, as we see It slowly approaching in the background. The scenes are often loaded with color, even in the dark shots. Yellow, is one of the common colors that permeates the film. The cinematography and dream-like quality of the film is further enhanced by the score by Disasterpiece. It's a great soundtrack and is extremely successful in adding to the overall tone of a slowly creeping nightmare.
TL;DR (Conclusion)
It Follows takes a familiar horror tradition, turns into an actual metaphorical threat, and runs with it. As a horror film, it doesn't quite do enough to keep the plot interesting. However, it manages to make up for it with the mystery of what It is, as well as the quality direction, camera-work, editing, and soundtrack. If the film were cut down a bit so that we didn't spend so much time with the characters as they sit around doing nothing, or only confirming what the film already established, It Follows would come with an even better recommendation. Regardless of its flaws, I still think it's an interesting film worth seeing.
More looking at things!
Do you agree or disagree? Tell me what you think in the comments!
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