“It Follows” is a surprisingly good horror film. The premise seems a bit silly, centering around a curse that is passed from person to person by having an “adult” encounter. The supernatural entity then slowly follows you until it either kills you or is passed on to someone new by the same means. The synopsis is a headscratcher until you watch it and understand its symbolism. If you’re catching on, the film can be an allegory for several different things including AIDS and STDs. It is pretty genius to incorporate this into a horror film since the lifelong consequences of these diseases are scarier than any slasher film. The most clever part of the film is that you can’t get rid of “It” – once “It” catches someone, “It” starts working “Its” way back down the line until “It” gets to you. You can buy yourself some time but it will eventually catch up to you, similarly to how you cannot escape the physical and emotional toll of these diseases. I hesitated to watch this film because I knew that there would be a lot of adult content but director David Robert Mitchell focuses on the consequences of the action instead of the action itself. That being said, the content is too extreme for kids or teens and the R-rating should be observed. The acting is quite good for such a young cast, particularly Maika Monroe and Daniel Zovatto whose characters really popped off of the screen. The most impressive part of the film is its portrayal of the entity. It catches you off guard because it takes different forms, sometimes normal and sometimes frightening (and particularly gross at times). Perhaps the scariest thing about the entity is its slow speed. It enhances the sense of dread that you can get away but you will have to run and be alert for the rest of your life. I appreciate the amount of restraint shown throughout the film, first making us wonder if the entity is really capable of much and then magnifying the fear factor each time that the characters encounter it. This is one of the few times that I’ll ever say that I would love to see a sequel. There are so many layers of this story that could be unwrapped if the main character started going down the line to discover the origin of the curse. Then again, maybe we should learn from “The Ring” series and remember that the unknown is always scarier than what we know. “It Follows” is an original concept that stands out in a genre that often suffers from repeating the same story over and over again. It is important to be aware of the premise and the content that comes with it but the story at the heart of this film is fascinating and perfectly executed.
[Pictured: The entity moves so slowly that it is unnerving]
No comments:
Post a Comment