8 / 10
It is Andrés Muschietti’s 2017 American supernatural horror film adapting the first half of Stephen King’s 1986 novel, depicting a group of children in 1989 Derry, Maine, who confront a shape-shifting evil that emerges from the town’s sewer system every twenty-seven years and primarily appears as the dancing clown Pennywise. Bill Skarsgård plays Pennywise. Jaeden Lieberher plays Bill Denbrough. Jeremy Ray Taylor plays Ben Hanscom. Sophia Lillis plays Beverly Marsh. Finn Wolfhard plays Richie Tozier. Chosen Jacobs plays Mike Hanlon. Jack Dylan Grazer plays Eddie Kaspbrak. Wyatt Oleff plays Stanley Uris. The screenplay was written by Chase Palmer, Cary Joji Fukunaga, and Gary Dauberman. New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. produced and released the film in September 2017 to major commercial success.
It is the most commercially successful R-rated horror film ever released and a substantial King adaptation that handles the source novel’s child-focused first half with real craftsmanship. The decision to separate the novel’s split child-adult timeline into two films, with It Chapter Two in 2019 covering the adult timeline, gave Muschietti’s first film space to develop the Losers’ Club ensemble with significant individual character work. Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise replaced the 1990 Tim Curry television-miniseries version with fundamentally different interpretation, with both Pennywises now operating as legitimate alternatives to King’s underlying character.
Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise
Bill Skarsgård replaced Tim Curry’s 1990 television-miniseries Pennywise with a noticeably different interpretation. Where Curry played the clown as approachable trickster who turned predatory in particular moments, Skarsgård plays Pennywise as fundamentally alien from the first appearance, with his speech patterns, physical movements, and facial expressions registering as wrong throughout the running time.
Skarsgård’s eye-disalignment, where he can deliberately misalign his eye-direction during scenes, gives Pennywise specific uncanny-valley quality that the surrounding makeup and costume design enhance. The performance carries considerable weight across the film, with Pennywise’s appearances spaced throughout the running time rather than concentrated. The cumulative effect produces one of the most distinctive horror-villain performances of the late 2010s.
For Writers
Replacement performances of established horror characters work best when the new actor commits to a fundamentally different interpretation rather than attempting to imitate the original. Skarsgård’s Pennywise succeeds because it does not attempt to be Curry’s Pennywise.
The Losers’ Club Ensemble
Muschietti’s film treats the Losers’ Club child ensemble with major individual character work that the divided-novel structure makes possible. Each child has a distinct home-life problem that the film develops alongside the central Pennywise material: Bill’s grief over his murdered brother Georgie, Beverly’s father’s abuse, Eddie’s hypochondriac mother, Richie’s nervous-energy joking, Ben’s outsider isolation, Mike’s family loss, Stanley’s anxiety.
The cumulative effect produces ensemble character work that horror productions rarely sustain across full feature running times. The children’s friendship and their gradual mutual support against both Pennywise and their respective home difficulties operate as the film’s actual emotional engine. The horror sequences carry weight because the audience has invested in the children as individuals rather than as horror-victim ensemble.
For Writers
Horror ensemble productions benefit from real individual character work that gives the supernatural threat its particular stakes. The Losers’ Club’s individual home-difficulties make their collective confrontation with Pennywise emotionally meaningful.
The Period Setting
Muschietti’s film shifts the novel’s child timeline from 1958 to 1989, partly for production convenience and partly to align with the 1980s nostalgia trend that Stranger Things had successfully commercialized in 2016. The 1989 setting allows for particular cultural references that subsequent It Chapter Two could use as foundation for 2016-set adult timeline material.
The period production design draws on Stranger Things’s certain 1980s aesthetic without directly imitating it. The bicycles, the costume choices, the home interiors, the absence of contemporary technology, all establish a particular period feel that subsequent horror productions have substantially imitated. The period setting gives the children’s-ensemble material the distinct nostalgic warmth that contemporary settings would not have supplied.
For Writers
Period horror productions benefit from distinct cultural reference points that contemporary settings cannot provide. It’s 1989 setting gives the Losers’ Club material particular nostalgic warmth that 2017-set production could not have achieved.
Craft Note
Andrés Muschietti had previously directed Mama (2013) before It. The production cost approximately thirty-five million dollars and grossed over seven hundred million worldwide, an extraordinary return that built It as the most commercially successful R-rated horror film ever released. The Benjamin Wallfisch score contributes substantially to the film’s tonal balance. The 2019 It Chapter Two continued the adult timeline with the original ensemble adult-actor casting. A 2027 prequel television series Welcome to Derry has been announced for HBO Max release.
Verdict
It is one of the strongest Stephen King adaptations ever produced and the most commercially successful horror film of its era. Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise, the Losers’ Club ensemble work, the 1989 period setting, and Andrés Muschietti’s direction combine to produce a horror film that has earned its real commercial and critical reception. Strongly recommended.
FAQ
Who directed It (2017)?
Andrés Muschietti directed the film. He previously directed Mama (2013) and went on to direct It Chapter Two (2019) and The Flash (2023).
Is It (2017) faithful to the Stephen King novel?
The film adapts the novel’s child timeline first-half with significant fidelity to King’s source. The novel’s split child-adult timeline was separated into two films, with It Chapter Two covering the adult timeline in 2019.
Who plays Pennywise?
Bill Skarsgård plays Pennywise in the 2017 and 2019 films. Tim Curry played Pennywise in the 1990 television miniseries. Both performances operate as legitimate alternative interpretations of King’s underlying character.
How many It adaptations exist?
Two: the 1990 television miniseries directed by Tommy Lee Wallace with Tim Curry as Pennywise, and the 2017-2019 theatrical pair directed by Andrés Muschietti with Bill Skarsgård. A 2027 prequel television series Welcome to Derry has been announced.
Why did It (2017) become the highest-grossing R-rated horror film?
Multiple factors: considerable Stephen King brand recognition, successful 1980s nostalgia setting alignment with Stranger Things, strong child-ensemble performances, Bill Skarsgård’s distinctive Pennywise interpretation, and effective marketing campaign.
Where was It (2017) filmed?
Primarily in Toronto and around Port Hope, Ontario, with Port Hope serving as the principal location for Derry, Maine exteriors.
What is the film’s rating?
It (2017) is rated R for violence, horror, bloody images, and language.