Many of us poor, tortured souls are still waiting for the day whenLonglegsannounces its release on a streamer. The hitNicolas CageandMaika Monroe-led horror film was one of the most-talked about features of the summer, but it still hasn’t found a home on a streamer. While you wait for that blessed day to come, Max is inviting audiences to check out another incredibly spooky, scary title from Monroe’s portfolio, asIt Followswill be arriving on the streamer onJanuary 1. The best part? A sequel is on the way (kind of), so when you get to the end of the first movie and find yourself wanting more — which you absolutely will, by the way — you can be like those of us who have remained vigilant and are constantly keeping an eye out for more information aboutThey Follow.
It Followsserved as the sophomore feature-length project for directorDavid Robert Mitchelland pushed the filmmaker towards widespread recognition.Haunting, eerie, and a little trippy, the movie follows Monroe’s Jay, a young woman who, after having sex, is told that there is now a sinister entity attached to her. The only way to get rid of the demon is to pass it on by engaging in sex with someone else. But, if the person you give it to dies, it remarks you as its target. With the help of her friends, Jay sets out to kill the entity without putting anyone else’s life in danger.
Monroe certainly leads the cast with her performance as Jay, haunted and guilt-ridden by the unforeseen mess that she’s gotten herself into, but the ensemble dynamic pullsIt Followsinto not just good but great territory. Filling out the rest of the call sheet is a list of names that includesKeir Gilchrist(United States of Tara),Daniel Zovatto(Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark),Olivia Luccardi(Channel Zero: Butcher’s Block),Lili Sepe(The Intruder) andJake Weary(Animal Kingdom). It’s also worth noting that if you watchIt Followsand find yourself, like the rest of us, eager for the sequel, Mitchell’s follow-up film,Under the Silver Lake, is another fun, trippy, and twisted tale.
What About ‘They Follow’?
With a Certified Fresh critics’ rating of 95% onRotten Tomatoes,It Followsdeserves way more of a following than it has. Still, a sequel is in the works, but —like the demonic entity at the center of its story— we just don’t know when to expectThey Followin theaters.Over the summer, Collider caught up with Monroeahead ofLonglegs’ release, with the actress revealing that filming hadn’t yet started on the next installment. However, a script is floating out there and the helmer and leading lady are both stoked about getting started, with Monroe teasing:
“But as you know with the first film, I’m not taking any credit in this, David is brilliant. I mean, he is brilliant. The whole movie transformed at that point. It was changing the game in the genre, andhe wouldn’t ever make a sequel if he didn’t think it was going to top it. He’sveryspecific, turns down so many… He just knows what he wants to do and what he wants to make. I mean, at first I’m like, “Oh, a sequel? Where are we going to go here?” And I read it, and it’s just so fucking good. It’s so good. I’m so excited. I think where you’ll meet Jay at this point is maybe not what’s expected, but it’ssocool. It’s just, of course, as everyone says for sequels, literally, though, isjust bigger and darker and more fucked up. Reading it was the craziest thing ever.”
Let the nightmare begin on January 1 whenIt Followsarrives on Max.
It Follows
After carefree teenager Jay (Maika Monroe) sleeps with her new boyfriend, Hugh (Jake Weary), for the first time, she learns that she is the latest recipient of a fatal curse that is passed from victim to victim via sexual intercourse. Death, Jay learns, will creep inexorably toward her as either a friend or a stranger. Jay’s friends don’t believe her seemingly paranoid ravings, until they too begin to see the phantom assassins and band together to help her flee or defend herself.
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