2017 Film Review: It (2017)

Directed by: Andy Muschietti
Written by: Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga, Gary Dauberman
Starring: Bill Skarsgard, Jaeden Lieberher, Sophia Lillis
IMDb Link

It was my Year 9 English teacher who first said to me that the most important part of a movie is its opening scene; if you can grab your audience from the get-go, it's hard to lose them. Watching It reminded me of this sentiment so clearly, because it features one of the best openers to a film I've seen all year.

*This movie is really good, so even though it's based on a book and there's a 1990 TV-movie version, I'll refrain from spoilers, which will make this shorter than usual*

It manages to do everything that a horror needs to do, and does them so right. Fake scares aren't jump scares, credible threat is built as quickly as possible to establish a mood of fear so you genuinely don't know whether or not characters will survive, music sets the mood perfectly, and most importantly of all, the monster is completely terrifying. Pennywise is the most satisfyingly scary monsters put to film, so unnerving he'll leave you with a stutter, so creepy but completely able to become terrifying at a moment's notice. He's absolutely awesome to watch on screen, played perfectly by Skarsgard and backed by excellent set up for every one of his scenes.

Beyond some of the best horror of recent years, It tells a very good coming-of-age story, dealing with real themes of child abuse and parental control, all bonded by the friendship the group of kids share. They grow and change over the course of the movie as a group, and it works realistically without coming off as too forced by time constraints. This is made so effective by a combination of the natural dialogue, and exceedingly good performances from the young actors, who share strong chemistry; people throw snide jokes at each other and fill empty air in an attempt to entertain themselves, talking like real groups of friends do.

That's about as much as I can say without spoiling it, please go see this movie if you like horror.

The Verdict: It is an excellent horror movie and an excellent coming-of-age movie. Pennywise is one of the most engaging and terrifying horror villains, and Skarsgard plays him with ghoulish glee. Outside of the genuine horror, It offers well told and natural character progression for its kids, all backed up by surprisingly good performances from the young actors. This is one of my personal favourites for the year, I absolutely recommend it if you enjoy horror.

Rating: 8/10

Published September 7th, 2017