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The horror genre is already overpopulated with an emotional hysteria regarding sex and emotional vulnerability, a strange moralism that must destroy all but the virginal would-be bride to the monster, and It Follows is merely obsessed with this strand running through the genre. The film is entirely subtext with no true depth beyond the dangling carrot of symbolism that borders on the incoherent. Is the “it” a fear of STDs, the spectre of rape culture, societal moralism for sexual activity in young adults, or a grand fear of intimacy? The answer is yes, It Follows is all of them and none of them. It’s whatever you want/need it to be to get you through to the end of the film.
It doesn’t help that It Follows grows increasingly dull as the sequences involving the “it” recycles the same setup and payoff throughout. There’s a lack of inspiration in the execution and possibilities of a shape-shifting creature that can remain unseen by all but the infected that’s ultimately a gut punch to the wider work. It Follows is less of a horror film than a puzzle that’s begging for you to solve it. A cinematic Rubik’s Cube where none of the sides will ever successfully lineup.
It Follows is so overly aestheticized and fussily obsessed with brainy classicism that it undermines its good points. It’s clear that writer/director David Robert Mitchell is aiming for a neo-masterpiece of grand ambition and a full plate of symbolic heft, but there’s too many half-formed ideas, the central conceit is too catch all, it’s too overpowered by its synth-heavy score and lacking in real tension or characters worth investing your time/energy. It Follows sure is pretty to look at and listen to, but the film’s thrust game is weak. It’s ultimately as unfulfilling as the first awkward stumbles into sexual activity.
