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It Follows
Movie

It Follows

2014 • Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Woke Score
3.6
out of 10

Plot

For 19-year-old Jay, Autumn should be about school, boys, and weekends out at the lake. But after a seemingly innocent sexual encounter, she finds herself plagued by strange visions and the inescapable sense that someone, something, is following her. Faced with this burden, Jay and her friends must find a way to escape the horrors that seem to be only a few steps behind.

Overall Series Review

It Follows is a minimalist horror film that establishes its central conflict through a sexually transmitted curse, focusing on the primal anxieties of young adulthood and mortality. The narrative centers on a group of teenagers trying to survive an entity that walks slowly but relentlessly toward its victim. The film’s strength lies in its atmosphere, ambiguous timeline, and unsettling sense of dread, rather than any overt political lecturing. The core themes revolve around sexual trauma, mortality, and the decline of suburban America, which are explored without relying on intersectional identity or direct institutional condemnation. The main character is proactive, but her survival depends on a collective effort with her male and female friends. The ending is morally ambiguous, suggesting a cycle of exploitation as a means of survival, but this moral compromise serves the horror premise rather than a socio-political lecture.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics2/10

The film does not focus on race, intersectional characteristics, or the vilification of white males. The cast is diverse in a colorblind manner, and the primary characters' struggle is universal to their socioeconomic background as young adults coming of age in a decaying American suburb, not defined by an immutable characteristic hierarchy. The villain is an anonymous entity that takes various forms, making 'It' impossible to define by any one demographic.

Oikophobia3/10

The setting is a notable critique of American civilization, showcasing a landscape of 'post-industrial ruin' and dilapidated suburban neighborhoods. The environment frames the characters' existential precarity, but this is a commentary on economic and social decline rather than a demonization of Western heritage or ancestors in a purely moral sense. Characters are shown seeking security within their peer group and homes, not outside their culture.

Feminism5/10

The main character, Jay, is the primary victim, but also the main agent of the plot, actively leading the efforts to escape the entity, which avoids the 'damsel in distress' trope. She relies on her supportive male friends, who take protective roles. There is no lecturing on motherhood as a 'prison'; however, the central plot mechanism, which forces the protagonist to pass the curse through sex, is an anti-natal/anti-commitment act of self-preservation that is entirely separate from family-building dynamics, leading to a moderate score.

LGBTQ+4/10

The core of the plot is a sexually transmitted curse, making sexual behavior the central focus of the horror narrative. While the film's progressive aspect is that Jay's friends do not engage in 'slut shaming', the mechanism of the curse explicitly links sexual activity to mortal danger and moral compromise (passing it to others). The narrative centers sex as the single most critical defining and dangerous action in the characters' lives, which aligns with a highly focused 'sexual ideology' lens.

Anti-Theism4/10

The film exhibits a spiritual vacuum, where no character suggests a religious solution, turning instead to modern, secular means of problem-solving. This lack of faith is portrayed as a simple reality of the teens’ lives, not a condemnation of religion itself. The supernatural evil is a secular curse, not a demonic force, and no Christian characters are presented as villains or bigots, suggesting a transcendent moral law is simply absent, rather than actively opposed.