It Follows Feature Scores
Explore all 74 feature scores for It Follows, organized into pros and cons.
Scores by Feature
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
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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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Long views of quiet streets and the possibility of danger anywhere create the film’s most consistently praised strength. The oppressive, dreamlike dread often lasts beyond the ending.
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The saturated, wide-screen imagery is frequently described as beautiful and artistically assured. Its dreamlike look can remain impressive even when the narrative disappoints.
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Distant figures, long holds, and uncertain safe spaces build a nearly constant sense of approach. This sustained tension is widely admired even when the scares or plot disappoint.
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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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Most responses value the film as a fresh, atmospheric horror experience. Its effectiveness depends on whether sustained unease is enough without frequent shocks or a clear resolution.
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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 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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The sexually transmitted pursuit refreshes familiar slasher conventions for many viewers. Others see a clever hook surrounded by recognizable homages or missed possibilities.
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The film repeatedly leaves a lingering sense of dread, with some finding it difficult to shake afterward. Its quieter final images can also be moving.
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Background details and layered themes reward returning to the film. Repeat viewers report both lasting enjoyment and meanings they missed the first time.
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The supporting actors usually make the friends likable and their concern believable. Some viewers find the ensemble solid but lacking a memorable standout.
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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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Maika Monroe usually earns praise for conveying authentic fear, vulnerability, and desperation. A minority response finds her competent rather than memorable.
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Jay’s friends stay close and help even when they cannot see the threat. Their loyalty gives the otherwise bleak story warmth and a welcome sense of collective effort.
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The opening establishes danger and dread before explaining the premise. Its patient staging and sudden aftermath repeatedly make a strong first impression.
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Old televisions, mixed-era cars, unusual devices, and depopulated Detroit spaces create an unsettling world outside a fixed time. A few viewers find that deliberate uncertainty distracting.
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The mostly unfamiliar cast makes the teenage group feel believable and easy to care about. One less enthusiastic response finds everyone competent but lacking a standout.
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Natural-looking interiors, dusk, daylight, and saturated color make familiar places feel unsafe. The lighting is repeatedly credited with strengthening both realism and unease.
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The Carpenter-era atmosphere and familiar horror compositions are often affectionate and effective. Other responses see borrowed scenes or familiar conventions limiting the film’s originality.
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A simple pursuit becomes a gripping nightmare when its sexual and moral implications connect. The limited premise can also feel stretched or underdeveloped by the final act.
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The script earns praise for a fresh concept, thematic layers, and intelligent restraint. Thin characterization, pretentious touches, and underexplored possibilities temper that approval.
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The ambitious camera work, restrained effects, and coherent vision make the small production feel larger and more polished than expected.
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Controlled camera movement, music, and a dreamlike setting often create a unified nightmare. Abrupt music cues or conflicts between literal rules and abstraction can disrupt that cohesion.
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Sex, adulthood, mortality, and intimacy give the pursuit several possible meanings. Some find the layers rich and coherent; others see obvious symbolism or ideas the film never develops.
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Unsettling noises, footsteps, bass, and carefully placed silence make the threat feel persistent. Sound helps put viewers on edge before anything overt happens.
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The loyal, relatively ordinary teens give the audience people worth rooting for. Some find the stock characterization and illogical decisions erode that attachment.
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Confrontations can be tense and inventive, especially when the friends fight together. The physical attacks and pool plan also draw complaints about awkward effects and weak logic.
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Measured cutting and sustained takes usually support the creeping threat. Some transitions and perspective changes raise questions about continuity or narrative purpose.
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The synth music, grainy look, and older technology evoke seventies and eighties horror with considerable appeal. The retro style feels especially effective when it supports the fear.
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The sexual material is often valued for serving the story rather than titillation, and the nudity can add menace. One response finds the sexualized attack repellently unpleasant.
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The unknown pursuer sustains curiosity without a complete explanation. Its unresolved nature is valued when it deepens the fear rather than simply withholding information.
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Jay is welcomed as an ordinary young woman whose sexuality is not treated as deserving punishment. The film’s handling of sexual harm also supports a more thoughtful reading.
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The aftermath of deception gives sexual harm emotional weight beyond a simple question of consent. The pursuing entity also supports interpretations centered on the persistence of trauma.
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The Detroit locations feel lived in rather than built for the camera. Their abandoned spaces make the threat more immediate.
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The relentless, unknowable pursuer can be terrifying precisely because its motives remain obscure. Critics find its conspicuous disguises and inconsistent behavior squander that potential.
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The teenagers often feel like an existing circle of friends rather than a collection of horror victims. The final romantic pairing receives a much less convincing reading.
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Natural exchanges and occasional visual gags add welcome levity without breaking the underlying dread.
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For receptive viewers, the film remains absorbing despite its patient approach. Repetition, thin plotting, and an unresolved payoff leave others lukewarm or bored.
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Restraint around blood is generally welcomed, and one account praises the gore as convincing and appropriately used. The opening’s mangled corpse is also singled out as deeply upsetting.
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The curse’s connection to intimate contact makes its psychological body horror especially potent and chilling.
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The unfamiliar faces help the teenagers feel ordinary while still delivering memorable performances.
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The photography, electronic music, and direction combine into a coherent experience, with each creative element strengthening the others.
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The conversations flow naturally and avoid turning the mumblecore influence into empty inanity.
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The pursuit has emotional weight because the danger feels personal to Jay and the friends trying to protect her.
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Threatening space around the characters turns the frame itself into a source of unease. The compositions receive unusually strong praise.
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The makeup is praised as convincing and appropriately used alongside the film’s other effects.
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The sexual commentary is praised for reaching beyond a simple abstinence message into more complicated questions about relationships and harm.
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The blunt title is admired for stating the threat with pitiless precision.
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The curse creates uncomfortable questions about consent, deception, and sacrificing someone else for survival. Some find those dilemmas powerful; others think the film underexplores them or gives Jay inconsistent choices.
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The approaching threat gives growing older and confronting mortality an unsettling physical form. The score and themes make that connection work beyond the immediate monster story.
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The clothing reinforces both the working-class surroundings and the deliberately uncertain period. Its eclectic mix contributes to the film’s unusual setting.
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The handmade approach adds appeal, and the practical gore has convincing moments. These details help the horror feel tangible without depending entirely on digital spectacle.
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Keeping familiar current technology out of reach supports the mystery and prevents easy solutions. The device choices help the setting feel deliberately unmoored from the present.
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Working-class houses and costumes give the Detroit setting a welcome distinction from more affluent teen-horror neighborhoods.
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The emphasis on dread over gore is a reason to recommend the film, although the material still includes disturbing imagery.
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The relentless pursuit offers a resonant way to visualize trauma that other people cannot directly see. The interpretation emphasizes its persistence after the initial violation.
Cons
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The group’s willingness to work together is welcome, but its actual choices are sharply disputed. Reactions to the boyfriend and attempts to fight the entity often strain belief.
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Several responses feel the premise could work better with fewer lingering or unnecessary scenes. The boat detour and slow early passages are recurring examples.
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Claims of unprecedented scariness raise expectations several viewers feel the film cannot meet. The hype can diminish an otherwise worthwhile experience.
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Jay generally emerges more clearly than her friends. Several accounts find the supporting teens thinly drawn or miss fuller character arcs.
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Glimpses of an ordinary-looking figure can sustain uncertainty. Showing the threat’s physical interactions, especially under a sheet at the pool, can instead weaken its mystique.
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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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The final pairing can feel tender and chilling at once, or like a reluctant survival arrangement without real chemistry. Its uncertainty is central to the ending’s different readings.
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The deliberate, unresolved approach can inspire admiration without emotional engagement. Viewers expecting broad reassurance or a tidy payoff may feel kept at a distance.
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Responses range from cartoonish and distracting to surprisingly convincing for the budget. The digitally assisted physical attacks are the main point of disagreement.
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The literary passages can feel pretentious, though the classroom poem is also valued for echoing the threat of aging and death.
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A theatrical visit is considered worthwhile by an enthusiastic response. Another feels the unresolved ending wastes the time and emotion invested.
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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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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.
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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 handmade and digital effects can look unusually polished for the budget. Other responses find the physical attacks average or cartoonishly unconvincing.
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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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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.
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.
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Unresolved events and overlapping metaphors give viewers plenty to debate afterward. The story supports competing readings without settling them all.
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Fans of Carpenter-era horror are well served by the quiet suburbs, synth score, and patient pursuit. The familiar style is repeatedly described as welcoming rather than merely decorative.
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The strongest fit is for viewers who enjoy slow, sustained unease and can stay engaged through long quiet passages. The build works best when anticipation itself is the reward.
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The distinctive visual style, ambiguity, and layered meanings suit viewers who enjoy interpreting a film. Its deliberate approach asks for patience.
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The compositions and controlled staging provide plenty to appreciate for viewers interested in filmmaking craft. The camera work can be a reason to watch on its own.
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The focus on anticipation, uncertainty, and emotional stakes makes it appealing to viewers who prefer psychological tension to bloody spectacle.
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Careful attention to the background reveals threats before the characters notice them. The images and symbols offer more to viewers who keep watching closely.
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The carefully staged imagery and shared tension are repeatedly cited as reasons to see it in a theater. Enthusiastic responses consider the trip worthwhile.
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Its spooky atmosphere and layered story make it a strong seasonal horror choice.
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The synth score has enough standalone appeal to make the soundtrack worth seeking out even if the film itself divides opinion.
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A shared theatrical screening is recommended as a good way to experience the film’s patient dread.
Conditional or 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.
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Gore-focused viewingThe film offers much less sustained gore than the opening might suggest. Viewers primarily seeking bloody slasher thrills are unlikely to be satisfied.
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Comfort viewingThe oppressive dread and unpleasant aftereffects make this a poor fit for a relaxing or light evening.
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Horror-comedy viewingThe film does not deliver the comedic genre deconstruction that comparisons with Cabin in the Woods might suggest.
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Solo nighttime viewingIts fear can persist into the quiet of a dark bedroom long afterward. Solitary late-night viewing is likely to intensify that uncomfortable aftereffect.
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Casual streaming viewingSome recommend it beyond dedicated horror audiences, while others warn against using it for a light evening. Its oppressive mood and slow pace make casual enjoyment conditional.
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.
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KellySepe helps make the supporting group feel natural and sympathetic, strengthening the warmth around Jay.
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YaraLuccardi contributes to a likable, convincing group of teenagers whose concern for Jay gives the film warmth.
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HughWeary makes Hugh compelling and unexpectedly sympathetic despite the harm his character causes.