The film that WILL give adults nightmares.
The Man Alive director takes It Follows to the next level as he injects fear into young adults with this genuinely disturbing movie. Maika Monroe portrays a 19-year-old being stalked by a shape-shifting, zombie walking menace. This figure, which always emerges from peripheral vision, could be depicted as the personalisation of paranoia. Teenager Jay (Monroe) and Hugh (Jake Weary), sleep together for the first time at the beginning of the film, after, she is then told by Hugh that she has contracted a supernatural curse from him that is passed between casualties by way of sexual intercourse.
At first, her friends don’t believe her, however they change their perspective once they begin to see how frightened their friend becomes. The only way she can be free of the curse is to pass it on to someone new, and hope that the person she passes it on to, gives it to someone else, and so on.
The force of It Follows, with its circulating advance of horror and embarrassment, could be read as a chastity fable or a metaphorical account of Aids. Christian right activists might see the film as a warning sign for the consequences of sex before marriage. However, the purpose is that the It Follows demon is a mocking transposition of this genuine case. The possible message in the film is that can be perceived is that sex can often create an angst of anxiety, a misfortune of individuality that can only be relieved or reversed by another sexual connection.
Charlie Lyne states “To me, it’s dream logic in the sense that they’re in a nightmare, and when you’re in a nightmare there’s no solving the nightmare. Even if you try to solve it.” Instead of venturing new ground, It Follows converts recognizable teenage horror analogies such as: evil forces lingering in doorways, and a girl in her house alone. Nonetheless, its mood is dreamy. Rarely do you feel manipulated by unscrupulous codes. When the violence appears on screen, it is sudden and the camera doesn’t loiter over the gore.
American suburbs seem to be the hot spot for American teenage horror films and It Follows is no different. The teenagers live in a town largely devoid of adults which highlights the films target audience – teenagers and young adults. It Follows can be read as similar to Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). These films are similar in ways that both movies have a dreamy, haunting quality. Moreover, they both involve a group of teenagers who find themselves under a spooky spell that feels impossible to conquer. Furthermore, The Grudge (2004) is another film that can majorly be related to It Follows. In the film, the characters learn that a supernatural presence follows them wherever they go. The film received rave reviews from viewers who view the film as subversive. It Follows is definitely a movie with a powerful message everyone should experience.
