Speaking of decor, the photos on the wall are mostly black and white portraits. [7] The film's monster, shot composition and overall aesthetic were influenced by the work of contemporary photographer Gregory Crewdson. Assume that Greg's cabin is a hundred miles away from Detroit, but it still finds them the very next day. "[8], The film was shot in late 2013 in Detroit, Michigan. That night, Paul drives through town, passing prostitutes. (Which I want. The entity didn't just enter her home to claim her, but it exploited her trauma, too.It's the disheveled woman's visual that makes this scare so powerful, as Mitchell employs conventional tactics to induce goosebumps between the ominous music stings and slowed down focus on the intended victim. Its well-known that during filming of The Shining (1980), director Stanley Kubrick employed a lot of techniques to keep the viewer feeling off-balance or eerie without knowing why. The next day, the police cannot find the naked woman or Hugh, who was living under a false identity. , and this critical double-scare scene demonstrates how not much else gets under our skin quite like visceral reminders of our fleeting mortality. The protagonist, Prince Myshkin, is an extremely kind person trying to make his way in an unkind world. The actual death is very brief and is only onscreen . SPOILERS AHEAD. Firing blindly into the pool, Paul manages to shoot the creature again in the head, and this time, it stays dead. Jay, unable to sleep, heads downstairs to watch TV with Paul. Inside the house, Jay sees a disheveled, urinating, half-naked woman walking toward her and runs upstairs to the others, who cannot see the entity. Then Jay swims into the middle of the pool and waits. Firing at an invisible target, Paul accidentally wounds Yara, but shoots the entity in the head. The entity's imagery as it edges towards Jay leaves a mark, but Mitchell doesn't give his heroine much of a reprieve.Jay cowers in her room, and her loved ones arrive to protect her, either from herself or her unseen foe. One other aspect of the creature that seems apparent is a sadistic side, given its tendency to take forms sure to emotionally upset its prey. Both ask, "How do you spend your life when you know that death is inevitable? Some horror movies are easy to forget. Hugh/Jeff's mom was the naked woman in the abandoned building. They try to calm Jay's nerves when there's a knock at the door. One potential way to read the events of the film is thatIt Followsis about the inevitability of death. These are meant to act as an alarm whenever the entity attempts to enter. Seeing as how Jay and Paul are seen walking down the street holding hands in the films closing scene, it looks like the two end up together. Even if you try to solve it.". In an interview with Yahoo Movies, director David Robert Mitchell clarified that Hugh's understanding of the monster's "rules" are just based on his experiences, and they're perhaps inaccurate. However, Jay spends the rest of the movie attempting to outrun and outsmart the entity. Subtle shifts in seasons and time subconsciously unsettle as viewers cannot place when and where the narrative takes place. It takes various forms until, somehow, it knows when it will be able to destroy your body in its very specific way. Initially skeptical of the curse, the boy seemingly never sees the entity following him until it is too late and it is atop him. From Greg's death, we know that the Follower finds you, and then brutally rapes and murders you. Jays peach-pink underwear set just scream 1950s. Alone, Jay cautiously makes her way to the kitchen to see the damage for herself. That wouldn't have any immediate significance to Jay but could be one last taunt directed at its previous target. The film masterfully follows a less is more format that leaves a lot unsaid but tells the audience just enough to make for a truly unsettling experience. The plot of the film revolves around a teenage girl named Jay who is pursued by a supernatural entity after her sexual encounter. The camera slows down, and all music fades, save for the drumming beat, as Jay walks into the kitchen. Her first appearance in the kitchen, shes drinking wine in the afternoon. Regardless, it's going to mess you up pretty bad when your dad starts throwing TVs and trying to drown you, so either way, Jay's reaction totally tracks. If you aren't vigilant, if you can't keep swimming you end up like a bad game of twister. Its all on purpose, though. Upon sleeping together, Hugh incapacitates Jay, takes her to an abandoned lot, and explains the rules of the deadly curse he's just inflicted upon her. He also loves both Marvel and DC movies, and wishes every superhero fan could just get along. And then, once death has you, you're forced to meet your maker. For most of the film, Jay is directly targeted by It until Greg, skeptical of the danger, has sex with her. Jay, therefore, doesnt describe him to Kelly because she likely doesnt want to disturb her sister even more than she already is. Greg doesn't realize it's not his mom, opens the door, andgets murdered in what's easily It Follows' most disturbing death scene. , a column dedicated to the most pulse-pounding moments in horror. Instead, it marks an important repetition we see throughout the movie:in every case, the final Follower each character sees is of their parent, walking towards them. Today, we're here to explore all the confusing moments and unanswered questions of this indie horror classic's intentionally ambiguous final act, in addition to analyzing some of It Follows' deeper themes. Well, Yara mentions earlier in the film that she's reading The Idiotby Fyodor Dostoevsky, and this passage is indeed from that book. If it's about death, then death will still get our heroes eventually. So Yara's quote clearly demonstrates how both these works have mortality on their mind. Read this review to discover some frightening missing pieces. What's missing, however, is the discussion about the parents. Greg Hannigan is a Recurring Character in The Film It Follows, He is a 19 Year Old College Student. "[25] Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph gave the film five out of five stars and said, "With its marvellously suggestive title and thought-provoking exploration of sex, this indie chiller is a contemporary horror fan's dream come true. Subtle shifts in seasons and time subconsciously unsettle as viewers cannot place when and where the narrative takes place. Hugh explains that he has passed an entity on to her through intercourse. It can look like a stranger or someone she knows, only she can see it, and if it ever catches her, she will die. Again, the tall man doesn't look like any other character seen in the movie, so outside of being scary, the significance of this form to Jay is unclear. Whatever I was going through at that time, my parents divorced when I was around that age, so I imagine it was something to do with that. She then spends three days not being chased but scared, nonetheless, of the entity killing Greg, which eventually happens. Since everyone thats been cursed can see It, both Paul and Jay are able to see the entity and seem to have decided to try and survive the curse together. The following week, the film dropped two spots to #10 with a weekend gross of $346,005 (229,927) from 240 screens. Assume that Hugh is always tracking the monster's location, but it still almost gets him in the movie theater. We imagine that would be a movie called Follow It, which would presumably tell the story of Jay working her way up the chain, trying to track down the originator of the curse. Before going on her date with Hugh/Jeff, Jay is seen swimming in her backyard pool. From the moment Jay's neighbor Greg began offering her help, it was clear he was attracted to her. The fact that so many viewers come away with the idea that this is clearly the message of the film means that, on some level, "sex is bad, and it will kill you" is one potential reading of the movie that we're forced to admit is a valid one. Director David Robert Mitchell Writer David Robert Mitchell Stars Maika Monroe Keir Gilchrist Olivia Luccardi The kitchen in Jays house is straight out of the 1970s, down to the ugly orange-and-avocado-colored appliances. The entity arrives in the form of Yara and attacks Jay on the lakefront. Lead characters wear bathing suits in one scene and chilly fall coats in the next. So, this implies a few things about The Follower: It's motivation isn't always to immediately kill you. [3], It Follows received critical acclaim. When "It" finally arrives, things don't go exactly as our heroes planned. It Follows Spoiler Bomb: The Director Explains All Those Twists and Shocks By Kyle Buchanan Photo: RADiUS/TWC It Follows has quickly become the horror hit of the year, expanding into over 1,200. Even from a far-off distance, the wide angles elicit an exposed vulnerability that builds dread. As she bolts past another house, there are clearly pumpkins on the porch. See? Jay sees the entity having sex with a dead Greg, then flees by car and spends the night outdoors. Their quiet conversation gets interrupted by the sound of breaking glass. Height, Jaime and Kelly's mother, Ruby Harris as Mrs. Redmond, Jeff's mother, This page was last edited on 30 January 2023, at 00:15. When she comes around, Hugh tells her that by having sex, he has passed a curse on to her and that It will now follow her around. Given that It Follows was both a critical and commercial success, should we be expecting an endless array of sequels and spinoffs, in the vein of A Nightmare on Elm Street? Categories. It's scary because, no matter what you do, eventually, it will catch you. Also from the Detroit area and It made the movie that much creepier. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Screaming, Jay fumbles her way upstairs and locks herself in her room. For what it's worth, whenever David Robert Mitchell is asked about an anti-sex interpretation of It Followsin interviews, he shoots this reading down pretty definitively, saying specifically that he didn't want to make a "puritanical" film. Also, Jeffs hideout is outfitted with beer bottles, cans, etc. 'It Follows' Disorients With Atmosphere So It Can Set Up A Perfect Scare. She then undresses and walks into the water, though it is unclear if she does anything with them. Related: Freddy's Other Forms In The Nightmare On Elm Street Franchise. However, she continues to cross the street, then loops back around to her house. Their quiet conversation gets interrupted by the sound of breaking glass. This form isn't identifiable, although considering her appearance, the entity could be using this form to represent sexual trauma. On her date with Hugh/Jeff, before the two have had sex, he sees a girl in a yellow dress behind them at the movie theater. "[6] On review aggregator website Metacritic, the film has an average rating of 83 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". We then see her sitting outside her car in a clearing, talking to her parents on the phone. Are you ready to get under the skin of It Follows and see what its trying to tell us? However, the film does offer clues as to what It can and cannot do, so lets check those out. Another idea explored throughout The Idiotis death, and how proximity to and awareness of death changes people. It's quiet and unassuming, out there somewhere in the world, slowly walking towards you. First, we see Hugh/Jeff's mom, in the abandoned building. She approaches the pool and sees no body, but a mist of blood. Then, in the final scene of the film, we see the two of them walking down the road together. We simply don't know what this thing can do and can't do, as the film is unconcerned with dumping exposition to inoculate itself against this form of "plot hole"-centric film criticism, opting instead to keep the monster unknowable and mysterious, for good and for ill. However, in Gregs kitchen across the street, hes seen getting something out of a brand-new stainless steel fridge. Greg later remarks that he hasn't seen the creature yet, long after Jay expected. Maybe he left? It Follows is part of a wave of films in the 2010s where horror films arent just good horror films, but good films period. But then, at the theater for their date, Hugh/Jeff, Jay, and EVERY SINGLE OTHER PERSON IN LINE is wearing heavy winter coats. WHY?). Since he also doesn't believe her about the It Follows entity's curse, he's happy to make the "chivalrous" offer to sleep with her and take the curse off her hands. The murderous, seemingly unstoppable entity, simply called It, remains as mysterious as ever, and its origin is never revealed. [8], Mitchell started writing the film in 2011 while working on a separate film he intended to be his second feature film; however, Mitchell struggled with this would-be second feature and made It Follows as his next film instead. Related: Every Form Chucky Has Taken In The Child's Play Series. Many signs point to it being a period piece. Greg has sex with Jay in the hospital, as he does not believe the entity exists. Hugh says it's always walking towards its next victim, but at one point, the monster is just standing still on Jay's roof. I don't, however, believe that The Follower's form when it killed Greg was simply out of convenience. On a beach, Jay sees three young men on a boat. What answer makes the most sense, given what the film is actually about and what the monster represents? Now that's scary. So what's this quote from? In that time, Michael has written over 2000 articles for the site, first working solely as a news writer, then later as a senior writer and associate news editor. It Follows, and this critical double-scare scene demonstrates how not much else gets under our skin quite like visceral reminders of our fleeting mortality. Then again, certain aspects of the film are undeniably modern. For 19-year-old Jay, autumn should be about school, boys, and weekends out at the lake. Yeah, ok. And death, perhaps. Mmm sorry but Word of God did confirm that It rapes to death, is just that the movie probably wasn't going to show it because it would be too graphic, is PG-13 if IIRC. Box Office: 'Exotic Marigold' Sequel Topples 'Fifty Shades', "It Follows, review: 'tender, ingenious and scalp-prickingly scary', "Toronto 2014, Day One: Judging Robert Downey Jr., catching up with Locarno and Cannes", "Why "It Follows" is the best horror movie in over a decade", "It Follows: 'Love and sex are ways we can push death away', "No Safe Space: Economic Anxiety and Post-Recession Spaces in Horror Films", "Don't Let It Touch You: Watching It Follows in the Age of Coronavirus", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=It_Follows&oldid=1136363944, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2016, Articles with MusicBrainz release group identifiers, Articles with MusicBrainz work identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Lili Sepe as Kelly Height, Jaime's sister, Bailey Spry as Annie Marshall, one of the entity's victims, Debbie Williams as Mrs. Related: Every Form Pinhead Has Taken In The Hellraiser Franchise. https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/deadmeatDnDnD (D\u0026D podcast James and Chelsea are in) https://open.spotify.com/show/3fonY7n07M7eCfTGukfw0a?si=5EHRJwKoTBq92NorQ4Eyyw\u0026dl_branch=1Dead Meat on Social Media:Twitter https://twitter.com/deadmeatjamesInstagram https://www.instagram.com/deadmeatjames/Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@deadmeatjamesFacebook https://www.facebook.com/deadmeatjamesReddit https://www.reddit.com/r/deadmeatjames/James A. Janisse on Social Media:Twitter https://twitter.com/JamesAJanisseInstagram https://www.instagram.com/jamesajanisse/Practical Folks (James's other channel):https://www.youtube.com/practicalfolksMUSIC! This is why even if Paul sleeps with a prostitute and passes the curse on (as is hinted), the entity could always just kill the prostitute, then Paul, and eventually come back to try and murder Jay. In fact, we barely see it at all, until the end when its blurry and not the focal point of the shot. Jay, unable to sleep, heads downstairs to watch TV with Paul. Annie drives a 2012 Nissan Versa, much of the fashion seems fairly modern, and Yara reads her Dostoyevsky on some sort of miniature computer or e-reader that looks like a seashell. Well, the pan beyond Jays mother shows an older family photo. Even though Pauls crush on Jay is evident from the start, the latter is clearly not interested in dating her childhood friend, who is a far cry from the hunky boys she seemingly goes out with. Without this foreknowledge, it wouldn't have the ability to know when to appear in what form. But I do want to say that when I wrote this, I had some bigger set pieces, a few things that I sort of simplified, and some stuff that we chose to cut out because of the budget and time, so there's all kinds of fun things that could be done with this concept and story. Sure, it was shot in the head, but we don't know whether or not that's enough, and since the director isn't giving us answers, we have to figure this out ourselves by looking at the film's themes. Menu. It sounds cool on paper, but in terms of whether or not we'd actually like to see Follow It, to be honest, we're a little uncertain. They seem normal enough. The entity didn't just enter her home to claim her, but it exploited her trauma, too. Alone, Jay cautiously makes her way to the kitchen to see the damage for herself. After "Yara" arrives and proceeds to attack Jay, she and her gang run for refuge inside a hut. "[27] Mike Pereira of Bloody Disgusting described the film as a "creepy, mesmerizing exercise in minimalist horror" and labeled it as "a classical horror masterpiece. We then meet Jay and her sister Kelly, who are childhood friends with Paul. Right after the two have sex for the first time, Hugh disappears from her life. Greg wants to see Jay but is told that she is in her room with the door locked. The title refers to the idea that people view Myshkin as "an idiot" because of his kindness, but the book argues that he's far wiser than the people around him. Apart from the literal monster that starts chasing her, what makes Jay's date with Hugh so horrifying isn't the sex, it's the abuse. It is a supernatural being that incessantly pursues its victims at a walking pace. However, three days later, he ends up dead. Worried that she's suffering a mental breakdown, Jay's sister Kelly (Lili Sepe), friends Yara (Olivia Luccardi) and Paul (Keir Gilchrist), and neighbor Greg (Daniel Zovatto) rally around her. It's the disheveled woman's visual that makes this scare so powerful, as Mitchell employs conventional tactics to induce goosebumps between the ominous music stings and slowed down focus on the intended victim. She's the naked lady. Jay and Paul have sex. It then falls into the water, but as Jay tries to swim out of the pool, the creature grabs her and holds her underwater. This is what made me look for more anachronisms throughout the film and oh boy there are a lot. However, what is possibly the most sinister aspect of the murderous entity is that one is never truly safe from it. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Jay leaves in abject terror.Up until this point, the entity only appeared from a safe distance. [Spoilers for "It Follows"] Did anyone else who saw "It Follows" find it weird and confusing? That night, someone smashes the kitchen window; Paul investigates but sees no one. A young woman is followed by an unknown supernatural force after a sexual encounter. So what's up? It Follows is a 2014 American supernatural psychological horror film written and directed by David Robert Mitchell and stars Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi and Lili Sepe. It's not only a movie about fear, or death, but also about shame. The set further disorients with decor from various eras- unconventional and made-up technology clashes with retro televisions that play '50s sci-fi features. There are 2010-era modern cars but there are vintage cars as well in perfect condition. And how is the monster defeated, at least temporarily? After Jay has slept with Greg, a ball is seen bouncing from the direction of Jay's house towards Greg's house. In a way, it's a fair question. 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