It Follows

For nineteen-year-old Jay, autumn should be about school, boys and week-ends out at the lake. However, after a sexual encounter, she finds herself plagued by strange visions and the inescapable feeling that something is following her. She and a few friends try to get away from the ever-advancing creature that is pursuing her.

A simple premise leads to an incredibly gripping film, executed brilliantly and generating a very palpable sense of atmosphere – the film relies on creating a feeling of horror and suspense rather than gore, and plays out all the better for it. The cast are very believable, offering a particularly understated performance that causes you to empathise with their plight and with them – a shocking turn in any horror film – and the terror is amplified by placing them against a threat that remains unexplained, ramping up the tension massively. And coupled with a quality soundtrack, undeniably invoking the spirit of John Carpenter, this is a psychological horror that will stay with you long after the credits finished rolling.

Reece Goodall