It Follows, the best horror movie of 2015, is finally getting a sequel. Reuniting star Maika Monroe (who’s been keeping her horror chops honed with movies like Watcher) with filmmaker David Robert Mitchell (who ventured into oddball neo-noir with Under the Silver Lake in 2018), They Follow sees a new world where, according to the first poster, “It’s Everywhere.” I guess that’s what happens when your sexually-transmitted horror entity keeps spreading and spreading and spreading.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Mitchell and other creatives from the inventive horror movie have been mulling over a sequel for a while, but it’s only now that Neon has introduced the project in earnest to buyers – with plans to shoot next year.
Though there are no details yet announced as to the plot of this follow-up, the anxious original was already set in an uncertain era (what was with that clam e-reader?) and a worn-down locale. Where this world could go as its evil continued infecting horny teens over the years…well, maybe the concept floated back in 2015 that “it could involve people turning the tables on the entity and following it” isn’t so far-fetched. The return of Monroe, who starred as Jay in the original, does point to an inevitability that seems inherent in the horror’s ever-following concept. We might be looking at another showdown where a breakout scream queen returns as a jaded genre veteran.
It Follows was a much-needed original hit upon its release, and its acclaim has only grown in the years since. Mitchell’s inventive, itchy filmmaking didn’t quite find its audience with his audacious follow-up, so perhaps a return to the well will reinvigorate his career, and give him another chance to prove his abilities.
Jacob Oller is Movies Editor at Paste Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter at @jacoboller.
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