Horror, as a genre, as more than once been criticized as being somewhat conservative in its attitude towards sex. This is usually framed with that old slasher movie cliche of any character who has sex being axed off relatively quickly and the virgin being the only one to survive till the end. The implication of that cliche is that having sex (and worse, enjoying it) is morally wrong and the murders of those characters who do engage in sex are therefore justified, whereas the virgin who abstains from sex remains morally pure and earns their survival. Now of course not every film that uses that trope intends to give that message, just as I doubt that the filmmakers who employ it believe sex is inherently bad either, but it is a valid interpretation and something worth considering. Especially in light of It Follows, a critically acclaimed indie that makes the "have sex, get killed" trope the driving force of its story.
You know that girl you went to school with? The one all the parents and teachers loved, and seemed to excel at everything? But then maybe she got pregnant, or caught an STD, and she got pulled out of school? And her life was ruined even though she made a mistake any teenager could make? Well, It Follows is kind of a movie about her. The film follows 19-year-old Jay, a relative sexual innocent who's ready to go all the way with her new boyfriend. But their young lust has dire consequences when he chloroforms her, ties her to a wheelchair, and informs Jay he's passed a curse onto her. Because they slept together, Jay will now be followed by an implacable, shapeshifting thing that's invisible to everyone else. There's no way to outrun "It" and "It" won't stop until it catches and kills her. The only way to be safe is to pass the curse along to someone else, to get "It" to follow them instead. Now Jay must choose; either knowingly inflict this monster onto someone else or find some way to stop it before "It" finally catches up to her. And all the while that she's deciding, and trying to convince her friends about her situation, "It" is following her just out of frame.
