It Follows
Short description
Jay Height is a teenager living in suburban Michigan. After a sexual encounter with a young man she has been seeing, she finds herself pursued by a supernatural presence that she alone can see, and which advances toward her without stopping. The entity can look like anyone, even someone she knows, and it approaches slowly but relentlessly wherever she goes. Together with her sister Kelly and her friends Paul, Yara and Greg, Jay searches for a way to escape something that cannot be reasoned with and cannot be ignored.
David Robert Mitchell wrote and directed the film, his second feature and the first of three he would direct in order, followed by Under the Silver Lake and The End of Oak Street. Maika Monroe plays Jay, with Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi and Lili Sepe among the credited cast of thirty. It was produced by Mitchell with Erik Rommesmo and Laura D. Smith for a modest two million dollars and went on to take roughly twenty-three million worldwide, a strong return on its budget.
Critical response was markedly warmer than that of general viewers. The critics' rating stands at 8.1 out of 10 from 271 reviews, while on IMDb the film sits at 6.8 from around 297,000 votes and on TMDB at 6.6 from just over 7,000 votes, a gap that suggests reviewers found more in it than many casual viewers did.
What's left behind the scenes
- The idea for the film originated from nightmares that had previously plagued director David Robert Mitchell, in which he was pursued by some creature.
- The film's budget was $1.3 million. The entire film was shot in Michigan for tax incentives.
- The period in which the film takes place remains undefined, making everything feel like a dream. Some cars are modern, but many are clearly from the 1960s and 1980s. The film shows cathode-ray tube video projectors when the characters watch movies. Yara appears to be using a cell phone, but sometimes she reads it like an e-book, and in one scene uses it as a light source. The girl at the beginning of the film also uses a cell phone and drives a modern car. Other modern vehicles appear in the frame. The props shown in the film do not allow the viewer to understand what year the events in the film are taking place, and the characters' clothing does not allow determining the time of year. The characters are shown in coats, jackets, t-shirts, and swimsuits during the day, and practically naked at night. When the action takes place outside, the characters do not experience any discomfort, no matter how they are dressed or undressed.
- The semi-destroyed house where Hugh hid, and which Jay and his friends inspected, is built in the American Foursquare style, which was popular between 1890 and 1930. The layout of these houses allowed one to walk through several rooms and return to the starting point without turning back (for example, starting in the kitchen, then going through the hallway, living room, dining room, and ending up back in the kitchen). In some houses, adjacent bedrooms shared common closets and bathrooms.
- Teacher Jay reads a poem by T.S. Eliot (1888-1965).
- Jay is a shortened form of Jamie. The heroine was named after “Scream Queen” Jamie Lee Curtis.
- A total of 11 actors portrayed the creature on screen. Here are their names in order of appearance: Ruby Harris, Ingrid Mortimer, Alexis Spreadling, Mike Laney, Olivia Lucardi, Charles Gertenner, Bailey Spragg, Daniel Dzovatto, Leisa Pulido, Don Ehl and El Bardha.
- Filming took place in the state of Michigan for tax incentives.
- The semi-destroyed house where Hugh hid, and which Jay and his friends inspected, was built in the American Foursquare style, which was popular between 1890 and 1930. The layout of these houses allowed one to walk through several rooms and return to the starting point without turning back.
- The film was shot primarily with a wide-angle lens to better convey the eerie atmosphere.
- The creature on screen was portrayed by 11 actors.
- When the characters are watching television, the film “Journey to the Planet of Prehistoric Women” (1968) is playing.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
