Review of Following (1999) by Sabrina I — 21 Feb 2011

FOLLOWING is about a curious loner who is obsessed with the private lives of others. He breaks into peoples homes just to take a glance into their world of secrets and personal items. He follows people he doesn't know but wants to know them.

He claims he is a writer and is researching ideas that's why he is following strangers but he follows other peoples lives instead of drawing on his own experiences. And soon, his writing actually takes a backseat to the burglaries as he is not shown writing as much as he is stalking and stealing.

So, was that just an excuse to indulge in criminal behavoir? The actual stalking and burglaries becomes the focus of his life and he eventually falls vicitm to his own obsessions.. The film has an air of creepiness to it, seeing how much Cobb and this man enjoy going through someone's personal items.

Being a very private person, I would be horrified if someone did that to me. The film not only plays with our own pyschological fears but also provides us with a mirror to look deep within ourselves, much like Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW.

In one way or another we are all voyeurs, maybe that's why we enjoy watching movies so much. The film has a tense atmosphere throughout, told in a non-chronological way (like Nolan's MEMENTO) the film actually benefits from it's limited budget because not a minute is wasted in this excellent neo-noir/thriller.

Every scene is an important piece to the puzzle and the ending wraps it all together nicely and that is a good thing for people who don't like ambigious endings but personally, I felt the film would have been just as good if nothing was explained in the end.

Perhaps the film would have been even more fascinating if we were left to ponder what it all meant. Still, It's a clever little film that proves you don't need big-name actors or huge budgets to create a competent film.

All a talented director needs is the right avenue to express his own unique vision.