It Follows is a 2014 American horror film written and directed by David Robert Mitchell. It stars Maika Monroe as a young woman who is pursued by a seemingly supernatural entity. Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi, and Lili Sepe appear in supporting roles. It Follows debuted at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival and was later purchased by Radius-TWC for distribution. After a successful limited release, the film had a wide release two weeks later on March 27, 2015.
It Follows received acclaim from critics, who praised its originality and performances. It grossed $23.3 million worldwide against a $1.3 million budget. It has since achieved a cult following, with many calling it a modern horror classic and one of the best horror films of the 2010s.[4][5][6][7][8][9] In October 2023, a sequel entitled They Follow was announced to be in development[10] with filming due to begin in 2025.[11]
Plot
Annie Marshall runs out of her house, seemingly being pursued, but denies that she needs help to onlookers. She gets into her car and drives away. That night, she sits alone on a beach and calls her parents to tell them she loves them. In the morning, her mutilated corpse remains on the beach.
Carefree university student Jay Height goes to a movie with her boyfriend Hugh. Hugh points out a girl in a yellow dress, whom Jay says she cannot see. Unnerved, Hugh asks that they leave. Later, Hugh and Jay have sex for the first time in his car, after which he incapacitates her with chloroform. She wakes up tied to a wheelchair, where Hugh explains that he has passed something to her through intercourse – she will be pursued by an entity that only they can see, which can take the appearance of any person.
It moves at a walking pace, but always knows where she is and will be approaching at all times. If it catches Jay, it will kill her and pursue the previous person to have passed it on. Hugh waits until a naked woman slowly approaches them to prove Jay is being followed, then urges her to have sex with someone else soon. He drives Jay home and flees. The next day, the police cannot find the naked woman or Hugh, who was living under a false identity.
At school, Jay sees an old woman walking towards her, invisible to others, and flees. Jay’s sister Kelly and her longtime friends Paul and Yara spend the night at Jay’s house. Someone smashes a window; Paul investigates but sees no one. Jay then sees a disheveled, urinating, half-naked woman walking toward her and runs upstairs to the others, who cannot see the entity. When a tall man enters the bedroom, Jay flees the house by bike. With the help of their neighbor, Greg, the group discovers Hugh’s real name, Jeff Redmond, and find his home. Jeff explains that the entity began pursuing him after a one-night stand, and reiterates that the only option is to sleep with someone else and implore them to do the same. He recommends that Jay drives to a distant location to buy herself time to think.
Greg drives Jay, Kelly, Yara, and Paul to his family’s lake house. The next day on the lakefront, while Greg leaves to pee, the entity arrives in the form of Yara and attacks Jay from behind by grabbing her hair, which is witnessed by her friends. She flees in Greg’s car and crashes, then wakes up in a hospital with a broken arm. To buy herself time, Jay has sex with Greg in the hospital. Greg denies the existence of the entity, despite the insistence of Jay’s friends.
Later, Jay sees the entity in the form of Greg walking towards Greg’s house. It smashes a window and enters. Jay runs into the house and finds the entity in the form of Greg’s half-naked mother attacking and killing Greg. Jay flees by car and spends the night outdoors. On a beach, Jay sees three young men on a boat. She partially undresses and walks into the water. Back home, Paul, willing to take the risk, asks Jay to pass it on to him, but she refuses.
The group plans a last ditch effort to kill the entity by luring it into a swimming pool and dropping electrical devices into the water. Jay waits in the pool until the entity arrives with the appearance of her father. Instead of entering the pool, it throws the devices at her. Firing at an invisible target, Paul accidentally wounds Yara but shoots the entity twice before it falls into the pool. As it pulls Jay underwater, Paul shoots it again, and Jay escapes as it sinks to the bottom. When Paul asks if it is dead, Jay approaches the pool and silently watches as it fills with blood.
Back at Jay’s house, Jay and Paul have sex. Paul drives through town, passing sex workers. Yara recovers at a hospital. Later, Jay and Paul walk down the street holding hands, as a figure walks behind them.
