David Robert Mitchell’s ‘They Follow’ Wraps Filming

It’s been over a decade since “It Follows” left its mark on U.S. cinema with its unsettling premise of a sexually transmitted curse. We didn’t need a sequel. I like it when a single film, especially a great one, can stand on its own. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me.

Regardless, “They Follow” is moving forward and has just wrapped its shoot in Los Angeles. Curious Gremlin, the production company behind the sequel, shared a post announcing the end of principal photography.

Maika Monroe is back as the lead in “They Follow,” and so are cinematographer Mike Gioulakis, editor Julio C. Perez IV, and Disasterpeace, who will once again compose the score. Writer-director David Robert Mitchell recently emphasized the importance of the score, saying he “wouldn’t want to do a sequel without him.”

No plot details have leaked for the sequel, which takes place ten years after the events of the first film, leaving many—including me—curious about what idea Mitchell could have had to justify revisiting this horror classic.

Mitchell is “very proud of the script,” describing it as “its own unique thing, while still being very much connected to the first film,” teasing a continuation that stays rooted in the original’s world while pushing into new territory.

Still, one thing that makes “They Follow” feel at least somewhat promising is the filmmaker behind it. Mitchell is a rule-breaker, and his concise, subtle work on “It Follows” was strong; his follow-up, “Under the Silver Lake,” is also underrated. I was skeptical about “End of Oak Street,” his ’80s-set time-travel dinosaur movie starring Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor, which was released this summer. But skeptics be damned: it was thrilling, largely thanks to Mitchell’s incredible direction. Too bad the ending didn’t work.

“They Follow,” which also stars Jackie Earle Haley, Justine Lupe, Michael Gandolfini, and Naomi Ackie, is destined for a 2027 release.