It Follows

Jay, a young woman, is on a date with her new boyfriend Hugh. Joking around in the cinema playing a people watching game he suddenly becomes unnerved and insists they leave. They move the date elsewhere, the evening goes well and they have sex in his car. Afterwards, suddenly and unexpectedly he incapacitates her with chloroform.

Waking, tied to a chair among urban decay, an obviously distressed Jay receives an explanation from Hugh about how she now "has it" and should listen very carefully or "it" will kill her.

CW: Mechanical sex without intimacy that's effectively assault. A little bloody violence but nothing to write home about.

This has a setup that reeks of an exploitation movie, so much so it took me a long time to be in the mood to watch it.

Instead it's a really harrowing exploration of what you would do when faced with a temporarily avoidable but nonetheless inevitable death.

The sex onscreen is infrequent, not in the slightest bit attractive and a metaphor for whatever you want it to be. The obvious reference is HIV but it's more rooted in existential mortal angst and clinging to physical pleasure to blot it out.

The "it" is terrifyingly mundane and can be fought or distracted but never defeated, "it" only has to catch you off guard once.

A bleak urban legend that deserves a spot as one of the best regarded horror movies of the last few years. 10/10 highly recommended.