The sight of him alone sends chills down your spine. His teeth so yellow you can smell his breath through the screen. His ominous laugh makes the hair on your arms stand. He laughs in the face of your biggest nightmare. He is IT. 

This chilling production we have been waiting for has come full circle with the release of IT: Chapter 2, directed by Andrés Muschietti and based on the novel by Stephen King. The sequel to the box office knockout kickstarts by skipping 27 years ahead as the band of adolescents have reached adulthood. The continued story follows the protagonists’ lives, with the horrific memory of Pennywise long forgotten. Their lives are chaotic and messy, but clown-hunting is no longer a part of their identity, at least not yet. 

The phone rings. It’s Mike. But who’s Mike? Mike Hanlon. The last of the Losers Club to be living in Derry, Maine. Why would he be calling all of his middle school friends to reunite in their childhood town? There could only be one reason: IT is back. 

The kids, who identify themselves as the Losers Club, made a pact to always stick together if IT ever were to return. And the day they never thought would come is now here, and they must fight for their lives all over again. 

Damaged from their past experiences, the team must come face-to-face with their fears in order to destroy what has been destroying them for the past 27 years. 

Sounds riveting, right? Yeah, maybe for a 2 hour movie. This butt-numbing 3 hour movie is just long enough to lose its thrill. The movie felt scatterbrained, with its lack of ability to smoothly intertwine all of the characters’ individual plots into one. IT: Chapter Two chased a depth within the plot, more so than its predecessor,  but still felt like it never left the shallow end. Not only did the film attempt to display sentimentality, but it focused more on the comedic lines than the reasons we came to see the movie–a good scare. Cheap thrills of squeaky violins and jump scares did not cut it this time. Some of the most chilling moments were also the one thing you do not want a horror movie to be: predictable. 

However, the cast of this film absolutely knocked it out of the park. With the original IT’s reputation of having a stellar cast, IT: Chapter Two was no different. Each actor beautifully molded into their character and created an emotional connection through the screen, which is a rarity for horror films. Bill Hader, playing Richie Tozier, invoked a stellar amount of empathy with the audience, and displayed the strength it takes to be vulnerable and have humility. James McAvoy played Billy Denborough, an intensely complex character who never gained closure from the brutal death of his brother Georgie. Many people already know McAvoys incredible ability to act from his well known character (or should I say multiple characters) in Split, and this film reinforces his brilliance. The depth of these characters was what made this film redeemable. 

With a 64 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.2/10 on IMDb, IT: Chapter Two seemed to not quite reach the expectations for many. 

If you’re walking into the cinema expecting jaw-dropping horrors from IT: Chapter Two, you will be dissatisfied. It simply does not fulfill the horror checkbox of receiving paranoia. However, letting IT: Chapter Two take you through a comically creepy story about the distraction of fear and making peace with the past will make this film far more gratifying.