Ryan McNeil
Should we be afraid of the past?
For a lot of us, the past comes riddled with bullying, harm, self-doubt, and anxiety. The world around us seems so impossibly big, the future so deeply unknown. All we can do until we mature is hold tight to the people we become close to in the hopes that we’ll always be able to hold tight to them.
But what then? When we grow, make our way, and begin to gain an understanding of the world we inhabit and our place within it. Should we look back at those bygone days and be afraid still of all the doubt and dread we once felt? Or should we stand tall as the people we have become; clear in the understanding that anything we once feared turned us into who we are – for better or for worse.
Fear of the past hangs entirely on one question: Are we who we are because of our past, or despite it?
IT CHAPTER TWO picks up twenty-seven years after the events of IT.
After new mysterious and violent deaths begin to occur in Derry, Maine, a now-adult Mike Hanlon (Isaiah Mustafa) recognizes the phenomena as the work of “It” – most often embodied as Pennywise the Clown (Bill Skarsgård). The return of the demon prompts Mike to summon the other six members of “The Losers Club”, all of whom have scattered far and wide across the country.
Life has been reasonably kind to the the group. Ben (Jame McAvoy) is a bestselling author. Richie (Bill Hader) is a successful stand-up comic. Ben (Jay Ryan) is a rich architect. Bev (Jessica Chatain) is a fashion designer. While Eddie (James Ransone) isn’t especially rich or famous, he is certainly living comfortably as a risk analyst (even if his job description usually puts people to sleep)
However, the call proves too much for Stan (Xavier Dolan), who takes his own life in lieu of facing down something so terrifying one more time.
The remaining Losers heed Mike’s call and return to Derry. While Pennywise makes it immediately clear that this duel of light versus dark will not be easy, Mike forces the group to remember things they had left in their past. They dig up promises made, and traumas forgotten, all in the hopes that they will arm themselves with the strength and will to vanquish “It” from Derry once and for all.
IT CHAPTER TWO shifts the focus of the story.
When the first chapter decided to frame itself around The Losers Club as children, the film turned into one all about fear. It contrasted the everyday fears that children have the resources to face, with fears monsters in the closet that they feel as though they cannot face.
The second chapter chiefly abandons talk of fear and instead turns the story into one of memory; what memories we cling to, and which we choose to bury.
The pivot doesn’t really work.
There’s an undercurrent to this story that betrays its core conceit that these blood brothers and sisters will always be there for each-other, and always come back to do battle with evil. That undercurrent is this: some things are best forgotten.
The past that The Losers need to unearth in order to do battle with Pennywise is a past filled with pain. It comes with self-denial, abuse of all manner, rejected feelings, failures, and heartbreaking loss. One wonders if these feelings were truly forgotten…or if they were actually something these adults came to terms with years ago in order to move on with life. While some of them aren’t in the greatest place by the time they return to Derry, it’s not as though these memories help them become better…only who they need to be for this fight, this story.
The result is a mess – both because of the shift in tone, and because the constant glances back into the past with The Losers Club as children makes the whole story drag.
Reading the Stephen King book upon which this film and its predecessor were based, one cannot shake one particular thought; This book needed a harsher edit. The first film two years ago felt something like that edit; there was greater urgency, higher stakes, deeper darkness. IT CHAPTER TWO – and especially the two films taken together as one long saga – betray that edit and return to the bloat of King’s original novel.
There is real darkness woven into who The Losers Club grew up to be. There are demons lingering, along with feelings of imposter syndrome and survivors guilt. There are fears that we will never stop running, and that we can never shed the skin of who we were.
IT CHAPTER TWO wants us to confront what we have chosen to leave behind, presumably believing that it will make us stronger. While in some cases that is true, it’s not the only way to vanquish the darkness hiding under our bed – or the clowns hiding in our sewers. Sometimes choosing to back away from volatility takes just as much strength and conviction.
To say “This situation isn’t done with me, but I am done with it” is an act of courage and grace that many people do not have.