Before elevated horror movies were called that, It Follows was released in 2014 and took the horror movie world by storm. The film wasn't a huge box office success, as it grossed over $21 worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. But it was definitely a critical darling and impressed everyone who saw it with its tense atmosphere, strong character development, and unique premise. It also established Maika Monroe as a horror movie actress to watch, and she has since starred in the 2019 horror comedy Villains and the 2022 thriller Watcher.
It Follows tells a fascinating and scary story and the ending is just as perfect as the rest of the movie. While it is open to interpretation in some regard, it isn't so vague and mysterious that it becomes frustrating. What happens during It Follows and how does this smart horror movie end?
What Is It Follows About?
It Follows is about Jay Height (Maika Monroe), a teenager who sleeps with her boyfriend Hugh (Jake Weary) for the first time and then realizes that a strange, evil entity is stalking her. Some believe that the entity is meant to be a metaphor for STDs. Others say that that isn't the case. Either way, It Follows is one of the best horror movies of the 2010s.
In an interview with IndieWire, David Robert Mitchell, the movie's writer and director, shared what led him to craft this chilling tale. He said, "The basic idea came from a recurring nightmare that I had when I was a kid in which I was followed by a monster that looked like different people. And only I could see it. And it was very slow and it was always walking toward me. In the dream I could get away from it easily or sort of easily."
Mitchell talked about "the feeling of dread and anxiety" that he had when thinking about this dream. And that definitely translates to how Jay thinks about the entity. While some supernatural horror villains are forgettable, that isn't true of the entity in It Follows. This villain is so brilliant because they can take on different forms and shapes and appear as various people. This ensures that they will always freak the person out whom they are stalking.
It Follows focuses on Jay and her friends as they try to figure out a plan to kill the entity. Like Maika Monroe's other brilliant horror movie Watcher, It Follows is a great horror movie with flawless pacing and tension. Yes, the entity is scary, and it's fun to follow Jay's journey and hope for her survival. But It Follows is more about the atmosphere and wondering how it would feel to be in Jay's position. The movie succeeds at creating an oppressive and unique environment.
What Happens At The End Of It Follows?
It Follows is a popular, enduring horror movie thanks to the atmosphere but also the smart ending. The It Follows ending is all about whether Jay and her friends can stop the entity by killing it. This remains a big question mark throughout the entire movie. They think that they can shock it to death by putting electronics in a pool and then forcing the entity into the pool. But there's a wrench in the plan when Jay sees the entity looks just like Jay's dad.
Paul Bolduan (Keir Gilchrist) shoots the entity, which pushes Jay into the pool and almost drowns it. Jay is able to get away. The It Follows ending has a touch of romance and mystery as Jay and Paul sleep together. But when they walk around town together, the entity is right there. For some, this might be a shock as they might believe that the characters did kill the entity. For others, it will feel just right, as how can they really get rid of it for good?
There are many iconic horror movies using tropes, and It Follows succeeds because there is really nothing like it. And the It Follows ending works because some might think that it's a happy conclusion as perhaps Jay and Paul have learned to live with the evil surrounding them. But at the same time, it's possible to view this last scene as a sad and heartbreaking example of how the characters will never be able to shake the entity.
In an interview with Slate, director David Robert Mitchell said that there were a few different ideas of how close the entity would be. Mitchell said, "We had a couple variations on it—I think we had some where he was really far back, and then some where no one would ever miss him —but we settled on the one where he’s there, but not too close. It allows people to make up their own mind of what it means."