A young girl gets much more than she bargained for after her first sexual experience in the adventurous and fun supernatural thriller, It Follows.
Young and impressionable Jay (Maika Monroe) and her boyfriend, Hugh (Jake Weary) are enjoying a nice night at the movies, when he notices someone coming in his direction. Oblivious, Jay is surprised when an alarmed Hugh abruptly requests they leave. Later, we witness Jay lose her virginity to Hugh and while basking in the afterglow, he chloroforms her, knocking her unconscious.
Jay awakens to find herself in an empty, dilapidated warehouse, duct-taped to a chair in her underwear. It is then Hugh runs down the game to her – she has contracted the “ultimate STD” – an evil entity, demon that seeks to hunt her down and kill her.
Laying out the rules for the horrified Jay, Hugh explains that only the “infected” can see the entity and that it will come for you in any shape or form; a friend or someone unknown. The entity is unable to run, so you are able to buy time if you run or drive away, but your body is like a “human GPS” and it will always be able to track you down. Advising her to only frequent places that have multiple exits and to stay vigilant, Hugh unceremoniously dumps Jay home, while making his escape as the entity is bearing down on the both of them.
It doesn’t take long before Jay understands Hugh’s warning. The next day, while sitting in class, Jay observes an old scary woman in a nightgown making a beeline in her direction. The terrified Jay narrowly escapes the entity and decides to barricade herself in her home, with her group of loyal friends, Paul (Keir Gilchrist), Kelly (Lili Sepe) and Yara (Olivia Luccardi). They agree to spend the night with her to ease her fears, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell you that much like Diddy, the entity “can’t stop, won’t stop!”
Once again, Jay is on the run looking for answers to solve her complicated dilemma. The only way to rid yourself of the evil spirit is simply to pass it on to someone else during a sexual encounter. Does Jay have the heart to make that move or will her friends help her find another way out?
Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, It Follows is a fun-filled throwback horror thriller that is a wonderful homage to the 1970s stories that always featured young girls in trouble, while using the worst judgement imaginable to escape it. Mitchell has created this generation’s heroine Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), who heroically tried to escape her demon in the cult classic, Halloween, Michael Myers, in the same way that Jay is trying to solve her dilemma.
Mitchell teases the audience with the horrific possibilities but finally this tale that hints at much more, ultimately runs out of steam in it’s third act when it violates the story’s rules and foundation. Many of the horror films that litter multiplexes these days, eschew from psychological tales and, literally, go straight for the jugular. While It Follows barely succeeds, Mitchell is to be commended for his valiant attempt. His effort can be best described by the popular saying, “shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”
Grade: B-