Monsters come in many forms, as does fear. Isolation, the supernatural, stumbling below expectations can scare us and come to be our demons. These uncertainties claw their way through the frames of IT—figuratively and literally as nothing is sacred and no one is safe. The necessity of dependable friendships is the only refuge from the naked terror that Pennywise and the children’s parents put them through. Morphing real-life horror with unexplained, other-worldly menace, they challenge the ragtag group of friends dubbed “The Loser’s Club” at every turn.
The story of IT has been imprinted in the American zeitgeist and young children’s minds. It surrounds bullied young outcasts as they deal with the underlying evil of their seemingly tranquil small town Derry, Maine. But billowing from beneath this suburban town is a conspiracy of murder, destruction and missing children—more so than any other town nearby. The gang of kids are forced investigate the source of the menace when one of their own, Bill, kid brother Georgie goes missing. The kids decide if the adults aren’t going to quell the evil within, they must try, and embark on an adventure of ramshackle houses, sewer pipes and strange phantoms as they confront their greatest personal terrors.
When I first saw the trailer for IT I thought it looked great but unsustainable. There have been plenty of trailers for horror films that build up expectations and promptly jam a sharp middle finger up in the air, replacing directorial patience with jump-scares. This film does not. It takes it’s time to develop characters, shape tension, and probe questions about undiscovered fear—real and abstract. The monsters in the film become anything we don’t want to approach—the stranger lurking in the blackness, the abusive father or overbearing mother, or losing a loved one--and our inability to combat these fears will only cripple our growth and nourish our demons. That is not to say the film is not a complete masterpiece. I have minor quibbles with the overuse of score and sound effects to emphasize scares and I blame that mainly on the time in which it has been released than the fault of the filmmaker's, however, it does not completely ruin the film.
Eyeful direction, multifaceted performances, and authentic relationships are carefully earned, dragging IT from the gutter of mainstream horror that often plagues theaters to set it apart. The real standout performer of the gang is Sophia Lillis as Beverly who has a lot of dramatic baggage to shoulder and gives a nuanced performance. The torture of adolescence throughout shares more with Stand By Me—although severely more grisly child murder—than something like Texas Chainsaw as you learn to care for these outcasts. You are inadvertently adopted as another member into The Loser’s Club, rooting for them to prevail over their adolescent woes, their abusive parents and impalpable supernatural evil.
Where sloppier films devolve into a series of disconnected cheap scares, IT uses inspired imagery to challenge characters while simultaneously adding to their development as people. Genuine dialogue and humor swell complexity among The Loser’s Club, elevating a film from slasher to a more nuanced, almost Spielbergian coming-of-age adventure film. The love for eighties nostalgia floods this film (originally set in the 50’s in the novel) and allows for fresh places to be explored. This renewed retelling of the IT mythology unearths surprises for those familiar with the novel, leaving plenty to discover, while still retaining its emotional core with characters that are likable and feel like real people. IT is an engaging, thrilling and more often fun retelling of the classic Stephen King tale and one of the best adaptations of his works.
