10 years later, ‘It Follows’ ending still has fans questioning what they saw
A film often credited as the stepping stone for Maika Monroe becoming a modern-day Scream Queen, It Follows remains the indie horror movie to beat in the 21st century.
Released in 2014, the sequel to David Robert Mitchell’s film is currently in the works, with Monroe confirmed to return. As fans gear up for the much-anticipated sequel, let this article serve as a gentle reminder that we are still confused regarding the original’s ending, especially the last frame before the credits roll. It Follows’ final scene is meant to leave audiences perplexed and make them think hard, so let’s try and break it down.
What happened at the end of It Follows?
Based on an extremely out-of-the-box idea, It Follows revolves around Jay Height (Monroe), a high school student who inherits an invisible entity from her boyfriend (Jake Weary) after the couple have sex for the first time. Once the transfer is “complete,” Jay is followed around by the entity, which takes different shapes and forms throughout the movie. It is soon established that the only way to get rid of the entity is to pass it on to someone else by sleeping with them.
Jay tries to free herself by having sex with Greg (Daniel Zovatto), her neighbor, but the entity chases him and murders him instead of freeing Jay of the burden. It is later implied that she may have slept with one or more men in a boat, as she is shown taking her clothes off and walking towards the water. Amidst her conundrum, her close friend Paul (Keir Gilchrist) implores her multiple times to consider sleeping with him to pass on the entity to him, only for Jay to turn him down.
In the build-up to the finale, the teens decide to trap the entity in a swimming pool and electrocute it. Jay and her friends arrange multiple electric devices and lay wires in the pool water, with Jay entering one side of the pool as bait. However, the entity doesn’t get drawn into their plan, and instead transforms into Jay’s dead father and continues to torment her. One of them manages to put a sheet on top of the entity, making it a visible target for the teens to shoot at.
They land a headshot on the entity, pushing it down into the pool. However, it tries to pull Jay in with it until another headshot finally relieves her and she is rescued. Jay takes a final glance down at the pool to make sure she is free, and thankfully, she sees nothing but a massive splash of blood diluted in the water.
At the very end, Jay acknowledges Paul’s feelings for her, and they have sex. Paul then visits a street with sex workers in view, and the film implies that he intends to pass on the entity to them if there’s any chance of it having survived the scenario at the pool.
In the final scene, Jay and Paul decide to take a walk down the neighborhood holding each other’s hands, and it comes across as a textbook happy ending. However, the camera zooms out a little, indicating that someone is following them, leading to three potential scenarios: the entity is still following Jay, it’s following Paul, or it’s a harmless stranger taking a walk in the area. Hopefully, the sequel will reveal the truth.
The film explores various themes like jealousy, selfishness, and the raw and pure nature of teenage friendship. It also uses sex as the central device for social commentary, indirectly outlining the perils of STDs and irresponsible lovemaking, especially when teenagers are involved. While its ending is slightly ambiguous, It Follows does make a strong statement about fear of death and humans’ willingness to survive at any cost.
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