If you want better world-building
Choose Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. It scores 5.0 vs 3.4 for world-building, with a 4.4 overall score.
It Follows Movie Review
Content guidance
Sexual encounters, full-frontal nudity, and a sexualized killing accompany sustained stalking terror and a graphic mutilated corpse. Drugging, abduction, and language add to the mature material.
Official rating
R
Bottom Line
Choose it for patient, atmospheric horror, a striking synth score, and friends worth rooting for. Skip it if you want frequent shocks, plentiful gore, or a clear-cut payoff.
Patient horror viewers who enjoy searching the frame for danger, interpreting ambiguous themes, and revisiting subtle details. Classic-horror enthusiasts and viewers interested in filmmaking craft have particular reasons to watch.
Viewers seeking light comfort, frequent shocks, or sustained gore. Its persistent anxiety and unresolved payoff also make it a difficult fit for scare-sensitive viewers.
Verdict
It Follows turns a simple pursuit into an unusually persistent source of dread. Wide shots invite you to scan for danger, the electronic score makes ordinary spaces feel unsafe, and Maika Monroe gives the threat an emotional center. The friends’ loyalty adds warmth that many teen horror films lack. Its strengths depend on patience: long quiet passages can be absorbing or repetitive, and the monster’s rules invite questions the film does not consistently answer. The pool confrontation and ambiguous ending are especially divisive, offering haunting uncertainty to some and an inadequate payoff to others. It is strongest as a carefully crafted nightmare about intimacy and growing up, with atmosphere carrying more weight than explanation.
Feature Scorecards
Summary
74 reviewed features-
Very positive 4.5-5.023 (31%)
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Positive 3.5-4.434 (46%)
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Neutral 2.5-3.414 (19%)
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Negative 1.5-2.43 (4%)
Pros highlights
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Wide compositions, slow pans, and distant approaching figures make viewers search the whole frame. The photography draws exceptional praise even from critics disappointed by the story.
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The synth-heavy score is one of the film’s most praised elements, sustaining dread and giving the images force. Its volume, repeated buildups, and occasional jarring cues can also become overbearing.
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The strongest scares let danger approach in plain sight and leave the audience scanning for it. Some find this exceptionally frightening, while others miss stronger shocks or find the visible forms unconvincing.
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The electronic music gives the film a memorable retro identity and considerable listening appeal. Some find its constant presence or repeated rises too intrusive.
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Patient framing and controlled reveals make a tiny premise feel threatening across whole scenes. Complaints focus on muddled rules, a few silly choices, and whether the buildup earns its resolution.
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The sexually transmitted pursuit refreshes familiar slasher conventions for many viewers. Others see a clever hook surrounded by recognizable homages or missed possibilities.
Cons highlights
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Mixed eras, absent adults, and uncertain rules create an effective dream world for many viewers. Others find the monster’s mechanics too inconsistent or too thinly explained.
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Slow movement and long takes give the threat time to become frightening. Repeated pursuit scenes and stretches of inactivity also make the film drag for some viewers.
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The ending is the largest point of division: some love its uneasy ambiguity, while others feel the film stops without a proper payoff. The pool confrontation is similarly called inventive by some and miscalculated by others.
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Believable teenage reactions and familiar locations often ground the nightmare. Decisions around the boyfriend, boat, and pool also draw substantial plausibility complaints.
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The basic curse can be introduced cleanly, but the later rules and offscreen events leave substantial uncertainty. That ambiguity is either a strength or a source of frustration.
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Ordinary human forms can make the pursuer exceptionally unnerving. Critics of the design find the naked or visibly strange disguises too conspicuous to sustain uncertainty.
Use Cases
Best for
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Many horror enthusiasts consider it an outstanding example of dread built through craft. Those wanting frequent shocks, gore, or a firmer payoff may find it less satisfying.
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The curse turns growing up into a frightening encounter with intimacy, responsibility, and mortality. Its bleak approach offers a substantial adolescent story through horror.
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The loyal friends are a strong reason to watch, offering support rather than dismissing Jay’s fear. Their shared effort brings warmth to an otherwise bleak film.
Not ideal for
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Stress-sensitive viewingThe lingering paranoia can be hard to shake and offers little immediate relief. It is a poor choice when avoiding a tense or distressing experience.
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Scare-sensitive viewingDisturbing images and sustained dread make the film difficult for viewers who want mild scares. Several responses describe unusually intense fear rather than playful jolts.
Cast & Creators
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DirectorMitchell is widely praised for patient visual control and for making a simple premise feel threatening. Some find his ambiguity and artistic choices less successful when the rules or ending fail to satisfy.
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ComposerDisasterpeace’s electronic score is frequently called a standout, combining memorable retro synths with persistent anxiety. A few responses find the music too loud, derivative, or jarring.
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CinematographerGioulakis receives strong praise for beautiful wide compositions and controlled camera movement that turn the background into a threat. His color and lighting help sustain the dreamlike unease.
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JayMonroe usually makes Jay’s fear, despair, and vulnerability feel authentic, encouraging empathy through quiet reactions. One response finds her competent rather than distinctive.
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PaulGilchrist makes Paul memorable through touching vulnerability and the sad yearning behind his attempts to help.
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GregZovatto makes Greg feel believable and likable rather than simply another disposable or obnoxious horror character.
Compared With Category Average
Compared with other Movies, this product is above average in dialogue quality, drama quality, originality, near average in world-building, score quality, below average in Poetry presentation, creature design, runtime.
Comparison summary
66 compared features-
Above average 0.4+ pts higher35 (53%)
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Same as average within 0.3 pts20 (30%)
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Below average 0.4+ pts lower11 (17%)
Largest category differences
| Attribute | This product | Category average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| dialogue quality | 5.0 | 3.0 | +2.0 |
| Poetry presentation | 3.0 | 4.7 | -1.7 |
| drama quality | 5.0 | 3.4 | +1.6 |
| originality | 4.3 | 3.2 | +1.1 |
| lighting quality | 5.0 | 3.6 | +1.4 |
| suspense | 4.7 | 3.7 | +1.0 |
| Location authenticity | 4.5 | 3.1 | +1.4 |
| writing quality | 4.1 | 2.9 | +1.1 |
Consider This Instead
If you want better production design
Choose The Incomer. It scores 5.0 vs 4.2 for production design, with a 4.2 overall score.
If you want better soundtrack quality
Choose Project Hail Mary. It scores 4.8 vs 4.3 for soundtrack quality, with a 4.3 overall score.
If you want better plot clarity
Choose Heart of the Beast. It scores 5.0 vs 2.8 for plot clarity, with a 3.9 overall score.
Compared in Reviews
Products reviewers directly compared with this model, grouped into quick takeaways.
- Similar: atmosphere The slow approach of the threat recalls Halloween.
- Better: overall quality The film is worthwhile but falls short of Halloween’s classic status.
- Worse: score The score is judged more layered than Halloween’s.
the ring
- Compared: curse transfer The transferred curse is directly compared to The Ring.
- Compared: premise The premise is compared to a sexual version of The Ring.
- Similar: premise Sex replaces the transferred video curse in the comparison.
the thing
- Better: paranoia The reviewer wanted the paranoia of The Thing but finds it missing.
- Similar: monster Both monsters imitate human forms.
- Worse: score The score is judged more layered than The Thing’s.
FAQ
What kind of horror is it?
It emphasizes a slowly approaching threat, paranoia, and sustained dread. Sudden scares occur, but they are not the main attraction.
Does the slow pace work?
Long takes build suspense for many viewers, while others find repeated pursuit scenes and quiet passages dull. Enjoyment depends heavily on patience.
Is the ending satisfying?
Opinions are sharply divided. Some find the ambiguity haunting and thematically fitting; others dislike the pool confrontation and lack of a firm resolution.
What stands out technically?
Wide compositions, slow camera movement, atmospheric lighting, and the synth-heavy score receive the strongest praise. Some find the music occasionally too loud or intrusive.
Is it worth watching again?
Several responses strongly recommend revisiting it. Background figures, visual motifs, and competing interpretations provide details to notice on another viewing.
Is it suitable for younger viewers?
It is best suited to ages 17 and up because of sexual material, full-frontal nudity, a graphic corpse, and sustained menace. The supplied U.S. rating is R.
Sample Expert Reviews We Analyzed
These are a few of the reviews included in our analysis.
Video Reviews
YouTube - Heavy Spoilers
- Review score
- 4.9
Article Reviews
stevepulaski.com
It Follows" felt like a watershed moment for horror at a time when the genre was growing stale.
- Review score
- 3.7
movieadayreview.com
It Follows (2015) — 6/10 — Not recommended. A young woman is followed by an unknown supernatural force after a sexual encounter.
- Review score
- 3.6
dagondogs.com
Originally published February 2017 It's been something of a running joke that, if you have sex in a horror movie, you're basically signing...
- Review score
- 3.7
idolsandrealities.wordpress.com
It seems like every couple of years there's some new movie that's touted as the one that's completely changed the rules of horror. In 2012...
- Review score
- 3.6
themovieseasons.com
It’s that time of year where horror is the thing to be watching, but I just caught up with one that was released way back in January, and...
- Review score
- 4.2
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