It FollowsAs is the case with almost every genre, every form and concept fallen out of style, the pendulum swings back and makes what was once old new again, and the hallmarks of past works, which have fallen into disservice from years of ironic parody, are reborn in a fresh new baptism. It Follows is--on the surface--a story about a young woman who, after a sexual encounter with her boyfriend, finds herself becoming stalked by a supernatural force, lurking, waiting for her to let her guard down. It's a familiar trope; so what separates It Follows from simply aping the plot hooks of its predecessors? In short, a respect not only for the audience's attention, but for the plot and characters relatability as well.
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There is no mistake that It Follows is influenced by the stalker-horror slasher films of the eighties, like Halloween et al; but It Follows differs in that it does not simply regurgitate the same stylistic conventions revisited time and again in sequels and spoofs, but places our thoughts in a contemplative place, considering the significance of the curse which has visited our harrowed heroine, Jaime "Jay" Height (Maika Monroe). One of the tropes which pop culture has turned into a running gag, is that the promiscuous teen who has sex has to die out of some kind of judgmental form of retribution by the "horror flick deities". In It Follows, that concept serves as the core of the plot, albeit with a supernatural contingent. Rather than the act of fornication being the cue for the monster to leap out and start stabbing, it is the catalyst, and paralleled with another terror of the eighties: the AIDS epidemic, or at least sexually-transmitted diseases in general. Again, to contrast the modern mentality behind It Follows with its progenitors of the seventies and eighties, scream queens and lascivious teens of the bygone era were punished for their sins, a cautionary reminder for the virtuous heroine to remain chaste until her wedding night with her husband, thus protected like Joan of Arc against the monsters lurking in the dark. The incurable, ubiquitous terror which infects in It Follows is birthed from the recognition that it is not the act of getting sexual pleasure with another partner which summons demons, but the lack of discernment one has in choosing a partner, and how our trust can backfire on us, because what we want to believe about our partner is a delusion, and not preparing for the consequences can have life-altering repercussions. Just as Shiva in the "Yajurveda" is described both as a "creator" and "destroyer", so too is the act of copulation treated in It Follows. Jay is monogamous, a sweet, young girl in love with a slightly older man, whom she finds attractive. She doesn't do anything on the first date (or second, either, following what her sister says about her seeing him again), but allows herself to be romanced and wants to show that she is ready to commit to something more. As most young people do in the early stages of life, they want to believe the things they hear about the glories of sex and the wealth of positive feelings it brings to them, how it can bond them to someone special and give them a richer understanding of love. For that feeling to be so subverted is a violation of their trust, and a kind of horror which resonates more spiritually, and can warp their concept of love evermore.
As Jay begins to understand the gravity of her situation, she seeks the aid of her sympathetic sister, Kelly (Lili Sepe), her literate and occasionally crass friend, Yara (Olivia Luccardi), and her milquetoast childhood companion, Paul (Keir Gilchrist), who pines for her with puppy dog eyes. While they cannot share in Jay's terror, they work to help her cope with and confront her demons--inner and outer--as friends do. Alongside Jay's neighbor, Greg (Daniel Zovatto)--an attractive young man with a wandering eye for the girls, but one who seems intent to help Jay as well--the five teens escape to a cabin by the lake to relax and escape. Yet for all of these moments where another film might play these cliches for laughs or even simply allow the stagnant, predictable events that follow in other uninspired ilk to just happen, It Follows treats its characters like people, experiencing the same troubled emotions which would follow in such circumstances, and not simply looking for an excuse to sneak off and get naked, solely for the purpose of titillating its viewers. Jay and company begin to understand the nature of the beast pursuing her, and begin to form a plan to confront the "It", in the hopes that Jay will be able to be relieved of her burden. The It does follow some kinds of rules--some of which were revealed upon her inauguration into this deadly union--but even then, Jay is out of her depth, trying to confront something which possesses a power over her she does not fully comprehend. Even without the direct intervention of this malevolent force, its effect on her leads her to make some questionable life decisions regarding her sexuality, choices which--upon our understanding of her--we would not have otherwise expected for her to partake. There is a subtext of double standards in gender in It Follows, considering the transmission of the curse and our own expectations of Jay and her sexual behavior. Often times in the film, I found myself thinking, "Jay should/shouldn't sleep with that guy", only to think afterwards, "why did I think that? What makes me qualified to decide who she should or shouldn't have sex with?" A moment comes when Jay is told by Hugh (Jake Weary), the man who "infected" her that it should be easy for her to pass it on--the perceived "cure" for the infection for the "donor"--because she is a girl, the implication being that women have it easier when it comes to getting laid than guys. And yet It Follows tactfully avoids pointing fingers at one gender or another, by not playing the blame game about sexual conflict, and remains a terrifying horror movie steeped in metaphor for those other kinds of terror--sexual maturation, diseases, social insecurity, etc.--which haunt all teens and young adults, even without the killer phantom of dread.
Recommended for: Fans of classic horror films endowed with the great, stylistic virtues of yore, but with modern and mature sensibilities. An imposing and gut-churning score by Disasterpeace keeps you caught with a lump in your throat for much of the film, and the varied anachronistic artifacts from varied decades put the film in an era of nostalgia, but remains polished like new.
As Jay begins to understand the gravity of her situation, she seeks the aid of her sympathetic sister, Kelly (Lili Sepe), her literate and occasionally crass friend, Yara (Olivia Luccardi), and her milquetoast childhood companion, Paul (Keir Gilchrist), who pines for her with puppy dog eyes. While they cannot share in Jay's terror, they work to help her cope with and confront her demons--inner and outer--as friends do. Alongside Jay's neighbor, Greg (Daniel Zovatto)--an attractive young man with a wandering eye for the girls, but one who seems intent to help Jay as well--the five teens escape to a cabin by the lake to relax and escape. Yet for all of these moments where another film might play these cliches for laughs or even simply allow the stagnant, predictable events that follow in other uninspired ilk to just happen, It Follows treats its characters like people, experiencing the same troubled emotions which would follow in such circumstances, and not simply looking for an excuse to sneak off and get naked, solely for the purpose of titillating its viewers. Jay and company begin to understand the nature of the beast pursuing her, and begin to form a plan to confront the "It", in the hopes that Jay will be able to be relieved of her burden. The It does follow some kinds of rules--some of which were revealed upon her inauguration into this deadly union--but even then, Jay is out of her depth, trying to confront something which possesses a power over her she does not fully comprehend. Even without the direct intervention of this malevolent force, its effect on her leads her to make some questionable life decisions regarding her sexuality, choices which--upon our understanding of her--we would not have otherwise expected for her to partake. There is a subtext of double standards in gender in It Follows, considering the transmission of the curse and our own expectations of Jay and her sexual behavior. Often times in the film, I found myself thinking, "Jay should/shouldn't sleep with that guy", only to think afterwards, "why did I think that? What makes me qualified to decide who she should or shouldn't have sex with?" A moment comes when Jay is told by Hugh (Jake Weary), the man who "infected" her that it should be easy for her to pass it on--the perceived "cure" for the infection for the "donor"--because she is a girl, the implication being that women have it easier when it comes to getting laid than guys. And yet It Follows tactfully avoids pointing fingers at one gender or another, by not playing the blame game about sexual conflict, and remains a terrifying horror movie steeped in metaphor for those other kinds of terror--sexual maturation, diseases, social insecurity, etc.--which haunt all teens and young adults, even without the killer phantom of dread.
Recommended for: Fans of classic horror films endowed with the great, stylistic virtues of yore, but with modern and mature sensibilities. An imposing and gut-churning score by Disasterpeace keeps you caught with a lump in your throat for much of the film, and the varied anachronistic artifacts from varied decades put the film in an era of nostalgia, but remains polished like new.