‘It: Chapter 2’ and monsters in real life

THE sequel to the successful 2017 horror film based on Stephen King’s popular novel about an alien creature who takes the form of a murderous clown named Pennywise and feeds on the fear of the children it kills, has finally made it to Guyana and the fans are here for it. Internationally, some critics have been less impressed, noting that the storyline might have been too big and too much, but the right elements for a good horror movie remain intact in ‘It: Chapter 2.’

The film widens its cast, bringing in stellar actors to play the adult versions of the children who appeared in the 2017 film (although the children appear in the sequel as well). The cast is one of the best things about the movie. It is fascinating how almost every character of note from ‘It’ has appeared again in ‘It: Chapter 2,’ with numerous flashbacks being used to grant us access to the forms of specific characters that we knew from the first film and had grown to love. Beverly Marsh, the only female member of the “Losers’ Club,” for example, is played excellently as an adult by Jessica Chastain, but we are also granted access to the talented Sophia Lillis, who plays the younger version of Beverly and gives the audience some insight into not only the story and the events that led up to the children disbanding after their first defeat of Pennywise, but also important insights into the character of Beverly herself, her life, her journey, and her relationships with the other “losers.” Bill Hader and Finn Wolfhard respectively playing the older and younger versions of the same character, the bespectacled, foul-mouthed, Richie Tozier, is the pair who best manages to transcend the separation in the timelines of their character’s life and truly convince us, without a doubt, that they play the same person at different stages in his life. James Ransone and Jack Dylan Glazer also turn in strong performances as the older and younger versions of the hypochondriac, Eddie. Special commendation to actress to Molly Atkinson – who reprised her hilarious role as Eddie’s mother in the 1988 timeline and also plays adult Eddie’s wife in the 2016 timeline – and Bill Skarsgaard who brought Pennywise to life for the modern generation.

The film differs from its predecessor in that it highlights the concerns of both a group of adults (as opposed to a group of children) who encounter the monster, while also positioning the same group of people as survivors who experienced extreme trauma (as opposed to being initially ignorant of the creature when they first encountered it as children). The similarities between the past and the present, including the two versions of the main characters who appear in the film, are definitely a part of what makes ‘Chapter 2’ so interesting. We want to know how the losers have changed. We want to see more of their experiences as children. We want to know why they have forgotten their past. We want to know whether they are more prepared this time around to face Pennywise. We want to know how much more they have to lose this time. The bringing together of the past and present is wonderfully exploited to not only develop the characters and storyline but also to increase tension and to emphasise the audience’s connection with the central characters.

‘It: Chapter 2’ also continues to explore the very concept of fear itself, and its multitude of forms, which began in the very first film, not only with the shapeshifting creature who takes the form of Pennywise, but with the death of Georgie, who is the first of Pennywise’s victims in the 2017 film. Georgie’s death forced the characters and the audience to consider the fear that comes when a child goes missing, fear of what could have happened to the child, but also the fear that it might happen again, and again and again and again. Similarly, the first film also highlighted young Beverly’s abuse by her father, which was another catalyst of fear that was being shown to the audience. The sequel also continued this exploration of fear, featuring not only children being murdered by a clown but also a wide variety of ghouls and monsters – all of which represent traditional depictions of fear in horror films. However, the most important of all the fear-inducing moments are the ones that do not have to do with the supernatural – the moments which indicate that there is plenty to be afraid of in real life. The first murder in ‘It: Chapter 2’ happens after a gay couple is brutally attacked by a group of homophobic men; later, it is implied that a young girl is teased because of a birthmark on her face and Pennywise exploits this in order to lure the girl to him; adult Beverly has to literally fight her way out of the control and violence being perpetuated upon her by her husband. There is a slight message here, in these moments, but it still stands. It is almost as if the film is saying that yes, Pennywise is awful, but in the end, how different is he from the monsters in the real world? How different is he from the homophobes and bullies and abusers – the monsters we meet in our daily lives, the monsters who live and eat and walk among us?

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