IT Chapter Two

FILM REVIEW | DIRECTOR: Andy Muschietti

It Chapter Two is the sequel to the 2017 film It, both
based on the 1986 novel It by Stephen King. Featuring a
stellar cast and impeccable style and tone throughout
its 170-minute runtime, it’s inarguably one of the finest
horror stories - and King adaptations - we’ve had on
screen to date.
Since I was a child, I’ve revered Stephen King as one of
Mike (Isaiah Mustafa) is the only one of the Losers who
has remained in Derry, and consequently the only
member still capable of remembering his childhood
trauma due to the supernatural amnesia caused by the
town’s boundary.
Once Pennywise resurfaces from his vengeful
recuperation, Mike contacts the adult Losers and

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the greatest storytellers of all time, and the 1,138-page reminds them of the blood oath they made nearly three
tome that brought Pennywise and the Losers Club into decades earlier, forcing the forgotten group of friends to
my life always struck me as an impossible dream of return to Derry and destroy Pennywise once and for all.
cinematic adaptation. The 1990 film succeeded largely
due to the deadpan menace of Tim Curry, but fell victim
to the cinematic style and special-effects limitations of
its day, while the 2017 film coasted through its failings
thanks to a charming and magnetic ensemble cast.
It Chapter Two is that impossible dream
for horror fans and King fans alike,
improving on almost every aspect of its
predecessor.

Bill (James McAvoy) is now a successful novelist and

screenwriter unable to produce a satisfying ending for
his most recent adaptation, Bev (Jessica Chastain) is a
professional success but still plagued by horrifying
physical and mental abuse from her husband,
fast-talking germaphobe Eddie (James Ransone) works
in high-level business risk assessment, while Richie (Bill
Hader) has developed his acerbic wit into a standup
career, Ben (Jay Ryan) is now a jaw-droppingly
It Chapter Two is that impossible dream for horror fans
gorgeous master architect, and Stanley (Andy Bean) is
and King fans alike, improving on almost every aspect of still troublingly complex and skittishly sensitive.
its predecessor and presenting nearly three hours of
gorgeous cinema that effortlessly carousels between
laugh-out-loud comedy and chilling horror. It’s a faithful
adaptation of the novel minus a few of the more
controversial sections - which, admittedly, would have
felt perfectly aligned with the tone of the film - with
director, Andy Muschietti, offering brilliantly entertaining
thrills alongside naturally unfolding emotional and
mental subtext from start to finish.

Set in 2016, 27 years after the events depicted in the first

film, Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård in a much-refined and
terrifying performance) returns to the little town of Derry,
Maine to exact revenge following his unexpected defeat
at the hands of the teenage Losers Club.

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 IT Chapter Two
Jaeden Martell, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Chosen
Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Jack Dylan Grazer, and
Wyatt Oleff reprise their roles as the younger Losers in
additional flashback scenes, all of whom present a
consistent confidence and clarity in their performances
that was lacking in the previous film.
Sophia Lillis is still the flawless standout actor of the
group, delivering a level of engaging charm and sparkle
of humanity that is unfortunately absent from her adult
counterpart, Jessica Chastain, for the majority of the
film.
While Chastain’s off-note portrayal doesn’t devalue the
film as a whole, it feels strangely manufactured and
almost alien, without the necessary depth applied to her
story to justify what feels like a cold and forced rendition
of the earlier character.
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The younger Losers reprise their roles in
additional flashback scenes, all of whom
present a consistent confidence and clarity
“
in their performances that was lacking in
the previous film.
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The standout performances in the adults come from
Ransone, Hader, and Ryan. While the first two provide
flawless comedy and perfect portrayals of their younger
selves, it’s Ryan that seems to ignite every frame he
occupies with an unexpected level of emotional
vulnerability and maturity. Despite a slightly Benedict
Cumberbatch doubletake, his performance seems the
most naturally effortless and authentic here, relying on
nuanced facial expressions and subtle body language
to express painfully authentic emotion and a genuine
yearning for wholeness.
Uncompromising, highly adult horror is front and centre
from the opening scenes of It Chapter Two, and the film
refuses to pull its punches or drift away from unsettlingly
graphic, brutal violence and terror.
The first twenty minutes of the film are a masterclass in
blunt-force-trauma horror cinema, punctuated with a
slightly typical but often-surprising score by Benjamin
Wallfisch, and the film follows this by throwing every
sliver of production value into its grand set pieces and
mix of monster and body horror.
 IT Chapter Two
The influences - as with the monsters and scares - are
vast here, wrapping the film in a Goosebumps-
meets-Eraserhead-meets-Silent Hill flavour that seems
perfectly designed for adult horror fans - it’s a film that
respects its audience and its source material to levels
very rarely seen in high-budget horror.

It Chapter Two will no doubt provide further reveals to

fans upon a rewatch, but even an initial screening
elevates it beyond much of the mainstream horror
recently released - providing a worthy adaptation of an
impossible novel and an authentic piece of horror
cinema that brings to mind the timeless brilliance of
Stand By Me and The Shining. It’s a Stephen King film for
true horror fans, and - at almost three hours long - is an
experience designed for the spooky, inescapable, and
unrelenting environment of a pitch-black cinema:

“Come on back and we’ll see if you remember the

simplest thing of all – how it is to be children, secure in
belief and thus afraid of the dark.”

Starring:

James McAvoy as Bill Denbrough

Jessica Chastain as Beverly Marsh
Bill Hader as Richie Tozier
Isaiah Mustafa as Mike Hanlon
Jay Ryan as Ben Hanscom
James Ransone as Eddie Kaspbrak
Andy Bean as Stanley Uris
Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise the Dancing Clown

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