"It Follows" (Movie Review)

Japanese movie poster, why not?

It Follows is the best monster movie I've seen in years.  Like many things, I came to this movie a couple years late.  It Follows was recently made available on Netflix streaming, which is how I came to watch it.  I believe it has generated a second wave of buzz with this release, and I'm happy to ad to that.

It Follows is so great.  I can only heartily recommend it.  I want Jane to watch it, and she doesn't like being scared.  The movie sticks like a nightmare, from which it was, apparently, inspired.

This is a movie that I went to with very little knowledge, and I'd like other people to have the opportunity to do the same.   But I've got to talk about it, which means, inevitably, spoiling it.  So I'm using a font that will render these next paragraphs virtually unreadable. If you want to read them, highlight the paragraphs with your cursor.  Before I get to the ramble, I think I should note that I'd be down to see this movie again, having it spoiled doesn't hurt all that much.  It's carried off in such a stylish way, that it's powerful just to watch.  


I love the way the kids come together. The movie has a certain 'us against the evil' kind of a vibe which makes me think of 80s movies with younger kids who know about a danger that the adults don't know about. The parents/adults are very much not present in this movie. And that seems to be a deliberate choice, which, according to one article, is indicative of something specific which throws another layer onto the movie, which was already excellent.

http://thoughtcatalog.com/m-j-pack/2015/08/heres-why-you-missed-the-scariest-part-of-it-follows/

This article is super sweet, and it talks about some of the really subtle craft in the movie. I really appreciate it and after reading it, I want to see the movie again.


I think of this is a monster movie, not a horror movie. The presence of the monster, the horror it evokes, is the major conflict of the movie. In between monster scenes, there is a strange, fragile peace. Time to rest that seems dangerous. The shots are beautiful, the sets are great. The slow pace matches the creep of the monster. It's like a really great indie movie about teenagers, which is also a monster movie. And it works so well.

I also love the way the characters stick together. Going back to that 80s kids movie vibe, they work together, they don't let her face it alone, even though they don't know what it is, and they can't even see it. I find it so comforting, the idea of friends blindly supporting their friend who is going through something so terribly traumatic. It gives me a wonderful nostalgic ache of a time of youth, when we were more willing to drop everything for someone we love. Being surrounded by people like that.

It's such a great device, that she is the only one that can see it, and that her friends have to accept on faith that there's something there. Like, they're all working together, but when the thing arrives, she is alone in her terror. And this causes her to bolt on more than one occasion, while her friends call for her, afraid for her safety, not afraid of the monster. 

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the soundtrack. The movie uses a dated synth soundtrack which I love. I think it contributes to a sense of nostalgia which brings me back to teenage life, as a synth soundtrack was common in movies from the 80s, which were regularly broadcast during my teenage life in the 90s. 

The movie demonstrates an understanding of profound loneliness and also of profound love and support. It's remarkable. In that way, it's everything a horror movie can be. Terrifying and primal and yet redemptive. I love this movie. It's like the most basic dark vs light, good vs evil.


-D