“With its marvellously suggestive title and thought-provoking exploration of sex, this indie chiller is a contemporary horror fan’s dream come true.” — Tim Robey, The Telegraph
Creepy, suspenseful and sustained, this skillfully made lo-fi horror movie plays knowingly with genre tropes and yet never winks at the audience.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2014
It Follows 2014
“The most exciting film in Cannes has landed, like some terrifying spectre on the beach. Somewhat unusually, it’s an American indie horror film. Despite borrowing cleverly from the best, It Follows still manages to feel like no other example in recent years – tender, remarkably ingenious and scalp-pricklingly scary.” — Tim Robey, The Telegraph
“The film’s premise is inventive, brutally simple, and wisely left unexplained: After sleeping with new boyfriend Hugh (Jake Weary), Jay (Maika Monroe) finds herself constantly pursued by…something. Wherever she is in the world, this thing, which can take any human form, and which no uninfected person can see, is walking directly toward her, at a steady but moderate pace, with murder on its mind. It can easily be outrun, but it never stops coming, and the only way to get rid of it is to pass it on to somebody else via sexual intercourse – though if it kills that person, it reverts right back to stalking you.
No doubt that sounds like a Cronenbergian transmissible-disease metaphor, but Mitchell’s aiming for a more disarming, heartbreaking target, which comes into focus as Jay attempts to transfer her nightmare to random strangers, the callous hunk across the street (Daniel Zovatto), and the dweeby guy (Keir Gilchrist) she’s long friendzoned. Mostly, though, It Follows just goes to town with its spectacularly creepy conceit, which requires constant scanning of the frame for innocuous-looking extras who might be on the right trajectory.” — Mike D’Angelo, The Dissolve