It Follows rode a hype wave when it first hit the film fest scene in 2014. Check out that poster. How ominous looking is that? The movie maintains that tension through almost it’s entire run time.

It Follows is about a young woman who is stalked by a supernatural force after sleeping with a guy.

With that setup, you have the obvious societal implications. It’s a parallel to reality that grounds a social message that some of the best horror movies accomplish.

I loved almost everything on display here. A great opening scene to establish the threat that makes you question what’s going on. The pacing is dead on from there with some gorgeous cinematography and direction. The movie never stops being creepy. Annie is on a normal date with Hugh at the movies, but there’s something a little off about him. Things go well until the sinister switch is flicked on and the horror stays with you as well as Annie.

The visual language of the movie is expertly crafted. One of my favorite things is that the movie is relatively nebulous in its era. Aside from an e-reader like device that one of the girls has, it looks like this takes place anywhere in the 70’s to the early 00’s. You can also practically taste the paranoia through the camera. The Follower (what I named it) can only be seen by the person it’s after so there’s that immediate doubt from those around her that she’s just broken from her experience with Hugh (and he can’t be found by the police because he used a fake name and took off). When the Follower shows up it’s always in really cool and menacing entrances. It comes off not as a physical object, but a force that can’t be stopped, like waves on a beach. Director David Robert Mitchell had the great idea to occasionally plant the camera and slowly turn it to scope out the outdoor surroundings.  It reinforces Annie’s unease and trains you to keep an eye out on the background for the threat in every scene. One of the best cinematic presentations of paranoia I can remember.

The soundtrack is also a killer throwback to 70’s-80’s synth that helps make the movie seem like it’s from a different age of film. It’s the perfect marriage to the visuals.

My only problem is the end, I’m not too sold on it. It’s a “that’s your idea to handle this?” that seems half-baked. I think that’s kind of the point through, I’m not too sure what these kids could have done (and respect to the dude for putting his neck out there). I would have liked to see them do some more research, to maybe figure out where this thing came (some culture or whatever) to come up with a concrete plan of attack. The idea come up with to help Annie is one of those plans that seems good when you think of it, but is so flawed it’s stupid. They find that out the hard way (Annie should have told them that Hugh said the Follower wasn’t ‘stupid’). There’s also a low body count and low gore content, but more of either probably wouldn’t have added much.

It Follows is one of the best horror movies I’ve seen recently, I’d put it right behind The Babadook which is high praise. Check it out.