It Follows
RADiUS-TWC | Release Date: March 13, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
83
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
35
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Mar 11, 2015
Fans of early John Carpenter will immediately identify the master’s influence — on the voyeuristic slink of the camera, the synth pulse of Rich Vreeland’s throwback score, and the transformation of “safe,” warmly lit residential environments into landscapes of dread. Read full review
100
The GuardianPeter BradshawMar 3, 2015
Mitchell brings off some sensational setpieces of fear and suspense. I can’t remember when I was last so royally freaked out in the cinema. Read full review
100
CineVueCraig WilliamsFeb 26, 2015
Its thematic textures run deep, but the picture retains real visceral force. Read full review
100
Total FilmMatt GlasbyFeb 23, 2015
A horror film that will haunt your waking hours for weeks. Every frame of It Follows is stamped with nameless dread. Read full review
100
Time Out LondonTom HuddlestonFeb 23, 2015
It’s impossible adequately to describe the haunting intensity of It Follows: this is a film that makes a virtue of silence, that lives in the shadowy spaces between the splattery kill scenes that punctuate your average stalk-and-slasher. Read full review
100
The TelegraphTim RobeyMay 23, 2014
Despite borrowing cleverly from the best, It Follows still manages to feel like no other example in recent years - tender, remarkably ingenious and scalp-pricklingly scary. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyMar 12, 2015
A dizzyingly tense and creepy workout. Read full review
90
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 26, 2015
It's terrific. It's about many things, but dread infuses them all. You won't be grossed out. You'll be creeped out. And that's a lot more satisfying. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenMar 12, 2015
[A] smart, relentlessly chilling thriller that opts for originality over cheaply rejiggered jolts. Read full review
90
The New York TimesStephen HoldenMar 12, 2015
It Follows recycles familiar teenage horror tropes — a girl alone in a house, evil forces banging on a door — but its mood is dreamy. Seldom do you feel manipulated by exploitative formulas. The violence, when it comes, is sudden, and the camera doesn’t linger over the gore. Read full review
90
SalonAndrew O'HehirMar 12, 2015
It Follows pretty much earns its buzz as the scariest and best-engineered American horror movie of recent years, and that’s all down to Mitchell’s sophisticated understanding of technique and the trust and freedom he accords his youthful cast. Read full review
90
The DissolveScott TobiasMar 9, 2015
Mitchell’s deft handling of the relationships in It Follows gets threaded into an ingenious and exceedingly skillful creepshow. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMar 28, 2015
It Follows doesn't try to get viewers to jump out of their seats. Instead, employing the time-honored technique of the "slow build", it pressures fingernails to dig into arm rests. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaMar 27, 2015
A masterfully creepy and beautifully turned variation on the teen horror formula. Read full review
88
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanMar 19, 2015
It Follows sticks to you — yes, even outside of the theater — with a grim unshakability that is at once stylish, smart and deadly serious. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy BurrMar 19, 2015
Low-budget, sure of itself, and creepy as hell, the film actually scores quite low on the gore meter. Like the best nightmares, though, it proves nearly impossible to shake. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsMar 13, 2015
No, what's most disquieting about It Follows is the way it presents sex as neither abnormal, nor beneficial. Read full review
85
NPRBob MondelloMar 16, 2015
From the opening moments, the one thing clear about It Follows is that it will not follow in everyone else's footsteps. Read full review
83
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallMar 26, 2015
It Follows has an impressively sustained sense of dread, less explicit gore than measured tension. Mitchell slyly inverts the conventions of dead-meat teenager flicks, although not with wink-wink comedy like the Scream series. This movie is serious about creeping out viewers, and Mitchell is just artistic enough about it to create a minor masterpiece. Read full review
83
IndieWireEric KohnMay 24, 2014
No matter its conceptual intentions, It Follows never ventures too far from visceral horror. Mitchell populates a number of scenes with well-timed jump scares as the being frequently bursts out of the shadows or appears in unexpected forms, while the score provides a screaming punctuation mark. Read full review
80
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottMar 27, 2015
This is a film that could -- and should -- catch on. Just be careful nobody follows you home from the theater. Read full review
80
TheWrapInkoo KangMar 24, 2015
It’s an undeniable triumph of mood — perfect for anyone who wants to practice clenching their fists for nearly 100 straight minutes — as well as an ambitious effort at reinventing horror by eschewing the genre’s common tricks. Read full review
80
EmpireKim NewmanFeb 23, 2015
A first-rate horror movie, It Follows adds a new monster to the pantheon expect pranksters to imitate the Follower for cheap shocks soon — and has a refreshing, unpretentious sense that a meaningful subtext doesn’t undercut spookiness. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyMay 23, 2014
Creepy, suspenseful and sustained, this skillfully made lo-fi horror movie plays knowingly with genre tropes and yet never winks at the audience, giving it a refreshing face-value earnestness that makes it all the more gripping. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiMar 25, 2015
It is filled with unsettling imagery and a paranoiac atmosphere, and has a wicked slant on the horror genre’s obsession with burgeoning sexuality. You’re not likely to shake it anytime soon. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianMarc MohanMar 26, 2015
Without a more coherent perspective, the movie remains a collection of genuinely scary scenes and not much more. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesBruce IngramMar 19, 2015
The mood is somber, ominous and increasingly suspenseful throughout (despite an awkwardly handled final showdown), goosed along by an intense John Carpenter-esque electronic music score. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversMar 12, 2015
Mitchell has his own twisted gift for letting atmosphere help define character. It Follows creeps you out big-time in that cool way that freezes the blood. Read full review
75
New York PostSara StewartMar 11, 2015
Unlike many working in this genre, Mitchell doesn’t punish young women for having sex: This is a gender-blind demonic delivery vehicle. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineEd GonzalezMar 9, 2015
Though visionary, David Robert Mitchell's film abounds in undigested ideas and dubious sexual politics. Read full review
75
HitfixDrew McWeenyMay 23, 2014
At its best, the film has moments that are creepy and that work on some strange primal level. Read full review
75
The PlaylistJessica KiangMay 23, 2014
It Follows worked like gangbusters as an exercise in atmosphere and allusion, but a little less so as an out-and-out supernatural horror, and only at certain times did it achieve a perfect synthesis of the two. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony LaneMar 9, 2015
I happen to prefer the extreme unslackness of “Halloween,” and the resourceful pluck of Curtis, to the dreamier dread of Maika Monroe. Nonetheless, like her pursuers, It Follows won’t leave you alone. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeMay 29, 2014
It Follows is remarkably effective for most of its running time, ratcheting up the tension, then stinging the audience periodically with one of those jolts that sends everyone levitating a couple inches above their seats. But the excitement wears off after a point. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreMar 10, 2015
A few genuinely (and literally) hair-raising moments, a few knowing winks and a lot to think about lift It Follows above the horror pack. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternMar 12, 2015
It Follows finally loses track of itself in a silly climax. All the same, it’s one more stylish reminder of how readily we the people can be creeped out. Read full review
60
Village VoiceChuck WilsonMar 10, 2015
Mitchell's unwillingness to define the parameters of the specter haunting Jay leads to a finale that's muddled and confusing, and definitely not scary. Read full review
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