This movie is better than a 3/10, this movie is worse than a 3/10. There are moments of high-quality film-making and moments of amateurish flubbing.
If inconsistent cinematography and missing (?) sound elements bother you, you’re going to have a bad time with this movie. In the first 15 minutes, multiple people experience a great deal of pain without making a peep. Foot stuck in a bear trap? ‘Oh, hey, would you look at that. Weird.’ Almost as if someone forgot to add some of the tracks. I should know, I am incompetent at audio editing!
There’s some attempt at stereotypical tension building. There’s a missing inhaler and an ‘OMG, you guys, I accidentally went swimming in scalding hot dirt-water with my phone and our only charger in my pocket!’ The pay-off is a few minutes later, when someone’s phone runs out of battery at a moment that… doesn’t matter…
Oh, and remember the inhaler? It never matters.
At times, the camera work is dazzling. Other times, it seems like they could only afford someone who knew how to use a camera for a few shots, and the rest of it was done by whoever happened to be around at the time.
There are moments of actual tension, or there would be if the actors and director could collaborate to create even one emotion. The setup is there. The concepts are there. It’s just so hard to appreciate them through the fog of bad acting, bad filming, and bad writing.
No one really knew what to do with their hands.
It’s bad enough that it makes me not trust this movie. The way the female characters are portrayed makes me wonder about the intentions of the movie-makers. The female characters are vapid, lifeless idiots. There’s no one to root for, which is fine, until the end of the movie seemingly gives us the wrong person to root for. I don’t think that’s what’s going on, but that’s what it feels like. The meta-commentary on the matter was especially gaggy.
The ladder stunt was nice.
Overall, there were moments that shone with emergent film-making skill and I’m sure these actors could produce believable on-screen emotion if given a chance. There’s potential here for better movies on the horizon for a lot of the people involved… maybe not working together, though…
Josh from Loathsome Things: A Horror Movie Podcast.
Well-done, Entertaining Sequel!
“Followers” is the sequel to “Follower,” a 2022 film about three girls who go hiking and are stalked by an mask-wearing incel who stalks them for “internet fame.” All three of them survive the first film and are dealing with the aftermath of the events — Sam has massive PSTD, Riley seems to be just moving on with her life, and Heather is milking the traumatic events for fame, including producing a documentary about the events. They are no longer as close as they used to be, so Heather invites the other two (along with their significant others) over to her boyfriend’s house for New Year’s Eve, unaware that they are being stalked again and these guys are determined to make them pay for thwarting their friend’s plans…
I liked “Followers” more than I thought it would. Some awfully good direction and editing makes “Followers” fun to watch — special kudos to one shot where Sam and her boyfriend are driving to Heather’s house and there is a fade-cut that makes it look like they are going to drive off the edge of the earth, a wonderful foreshadowing shot. The acting is pretty good, there are some really tense moments, and it absolutely nails the ending.
Unfortunately, there’s still plenty of eye-rolling things. People tend to be able to brush off major injuries. The plot requires two characters (not just one) to become sniper-level marksmen out of nowhere. And there is an attempt to make a twist that you likely will have considered earlier and said, “Nah, that’d be dumb.”
Also, “Follower” was only an hour long. “Followers” is an hour and fifteen minutes long. But…. the first fifteen minutes is literally just the first film cut down to fifteen minutes. Then there’s a documentary about the events of the first film with scenes from it. Then there are flashbacks to the first film (sometimes with alternate takes). So if you watched the first film (like I did) there’s a bunch of filler. On the plus side, though, there’s no need to have watched the first film before you see the sequel since so much of it is included.
But overall, “Followers” get a solid recommendation. Moves along quickly, entertaining to watch, and what else can you ask for?
