It Follows: Why This 2014 Horror Film Holds Up & Fans Are Now Getting A Sequel In ‘They Follow’ (Photo Credit – IMDb)
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It Follows is not exactly a horror film one might expect a sequel from. The 2014 horror film directed by David Robert Mitchell told a complete story of teenagers being stalked by ghosts. But there may be more worth exploring in the upcoming sequel, They Follow.
The premise of It Follows is that the teenagers of a suburb become victims of a virus that attracts ghosts. When one of the teens receives this curse of sorts through a s*xual encounter, they start seeing ghosts slowly marching towards them. Nobody else can see the ghosts, and if they catch up, they will murder their victims. The only way to escape the curse is to pass it on to someone else, creating a hot-potato game of death.
The film became fascinating for the symbolism in the curse of “it.” With a deadly curse being passed through s*x, the film’s symbolism holds similarities to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Director David Robert Mitchell has opened up about how his film is not about the fear of the dangers of s*x, but rather the acceptance of mortality amid passion. It’s an especially poignant piece of horror, having lived through the COVID-19 pandemic, where there was a fear of death, disease, and a questioning of life amid loneliness.
The director also hasn’t settled on deciphering the origins of this virus. He’s stated that he’s not interested in where the curse came from but how the characters deal with it. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter, considering the greater story of getting to know the teenage characters and feeling their sensations of desperation and longing for life.
So what will happen with the sequel, They Follow? It’s hard to say after so much time has passed, meaning anything could happen in the next chapter. The film’s production studio, Radius-TWC, and its co-president, Tom Quinn, had mentioned that he was open to a sequel that might delve more into where the “it” came from. That statement was made back in 2015, and Mitchell seems less interested in that idea, given his words on the film.
They Follow will be directed once more by David Robert Mitchell and feature Maika Monroe returning to the lead role of Jay. Considering she survived the experience, she will offer some new insight to some new victims of the curse – unless it takes on a new form in the sequel. The film is slated for a theatrical release sometime in 2024, with Neon as the distributor.
