It Follows has been living off festival buzz for quite some time now, and for good reason – in a genre that frequently attracts cynical filmmaking, a unique piece is quite something. The film centers on Maika Monroe’s ‘Jay’, melancholy Michigan teen, who spends her time sitting on porches or driving in cars with sister Kelly, her friend Yara, and Paul (who’s nursing an increasingly awkward, unbelievably obvious crush on her). After a lakeside date with mysterious, slightly sleazy boyfriend ‘Hugh’ ends with a brief encounter in a parked car, turns out Hugh’s got a secret – he’s passed something onto Jay. A supernatural STD, if you will. Whatever the titular ‘It’ is, it’s going to follow her, walking straight for her until it finishes her off in spectacular fashion (yes, walking: in theory this sounds good, but when you’re watching, it’s far worse). There’s a loophole, however: have sex with someone else, then the curse is passed on and you’re free – that is, until that person dies, and it travels right back down the line to you. Nasty business.
So begins the turmoil – and turmoil it is, as young Jay is plunged into psychosexual, urban legend-style madness. It Follows knows its heritage well: there’s plenty of homage here, from John Carpenter to David Lynch. Hell, there’s even a cabin in the woods! But, the film’s largely suburban setting is beautifully shot, existing somewhere between the 80s and the present day, giving the piece an otherworldly edge. Musician Disasterpeace provides a haunting synthetic score that oozes through the screen and is definitely worth a listen, and the young cast work well with their material; the glacial nature of the gang suits the film, as if we’re all in on a joke others just don’t get. On a surface level, the biggest problem with It Follows is that it isn’t scary in the ‘throw your popcorn and scream’ sense. But there’s tension, disorientation, and unease, and its big jump-scares are all the more effective because of how rarely they’re used. It’s creepy, not scary – it’s about what’s happening left of frame, out of focus. It could be argued that it’s really a film for fans of the genre, but the balance is right.
It Follows isn’t a perfect film: the question with meta-horror films like this (i.e. The Cabin in the Woods) is how well it walks the line between commentary and engaging its questionable retro roots. It plays with familiar tropes – ‘sex = death’ is nothing new – and flirts with the sketchy, but the film is more about the idea of fear of sex than it is pushing the idea sex should be feared, an important distinction that separates it from the prudish 80s films it riffs on. It’s a subtle, intelligent horror that doesn’t so much wash over you as creep up on you, tapping you on the shoulder, whispering into your ear. It’s the kind of film that wants to follow you home.
words by Lara Peters