It Follows (2014) – Ending Explained

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First published: 7 September 2022 @ 6:00 pm

So, What Does the Ending Mean?

The filmmaker of It Follows explains that the ending allows the audience to decide what will happen next and what the movie means.

You can assume that the figure in the ending is the creature, or just an average person who happened to be walking behind them. You can also interpret that the two leads got together so that they can more easily deal with the entity.

In that sense, their relationship is for the sake of survival instead of genuine romantic feelings.

Some people believe that it’s about the inevitability of your life ending. The creature slowly walks toward their victims every second of every day. Similarly, every day that passes by, we slowly come closer to our inevitable death.

You can never be sure when you will have to face your demise. We can put it off for a while, but eventually it will happen. We just don’t know when.

The end of your life is scary because no matter what you do, it will catch you some day. It isn’t like a giant terrifying monster that runs at full speed towards you.

It’s just a small, unassuming creature that lurks in the world, slowly walking towards you. This all stacks up to how the monster in this movie is portrayed.

What Do People Think About the Movie?

On the other hand, many people think that the movie is a metaphor for illnesses that are passed down through intimate contact. In fact, it may be about something terrible that teens pass on to each other by sharing intimacy.

Some people interpret it as a parable about promiscuous teens in general, while others delve deeper to say that the movie is about STDs.

There is another way to interpret It Follows; that is, reading it as a story about overcoming trauma from abuse.

Like hiding a STD from a girlfriend, the boy from the beginning hides the truth of the curse from the college girl to get her to sleep with him. Once the deed is done, he abandons her.

Because of the trauma she suffered, she becomes scared by the event. This is depicted in the film as a monster that now haunts her relentlessly.

Furthermore, people who are abused often react badly to their trauma by becoming an abuser themselves. It’s as if you can temporarily stop being this monster by giving your curse to someone to suffer through it instead.

The fact that only cursed people can see the monster is like a metaphor for how others can never fully understand what a traumatized person is experiencing.

The cursed girl’s friends are instead supposed to help her fight a monster that they themselves can’t see. It’s also probably not a coincidence that whatever the entity looks like, they are usually covered in bruises and undressed in some way.

The director himself avoids clearly explaining the film or the exact choices on why he made it.

He does recognize that death is inevitable, and that people may temporarily distract themselves with things like being intimate with another. However, this is never enough to deter the eventual end.

How Do You Think About the Movie?

It Follows is a very interesting, stylish and creepy film. If you are looking for a quick horror flick to watch, this is it.

However, it is important to note that they left the ending open-ended so that you can interpret the movie however you want.

Whatever your interpretation may be, the movie makes an effective statement about how we react to trauma and loss.

If you like this article, stay tune for more movie ending explained we’ll post. And if you want other movie recommendations, you can head out to our YouTube channel, Trivia Viral.