It Follows: 5 Non-STDs Fan Theories About 'It', Ranked From Plausible To Totally Insane

David Robert Mitchell's It Follows debuted at Cannes in May 2014. It's hard to believe, though, that the film will soon be celebrating its 10th anniversary.

The creator managed to make it timeless with its quirky '80s-inspired gadgets and Detroit setting, which would look organic in any decade. Also, the story itself feels fresh every time you dive into it and holds up really well on multiple viewings.

The plot revolves around teenager Jay, who is targeted by a mysterious entity after having sex with a man she's seeing. The curse is passed from one sexual partner to the next. The entity's goal is to kill the person it follows and then return to its previous target.

The movie has a lot of little details and discrepancies that grab the viewers' attention, causing some to criticize it and others to theorize about what it could really be about.

Since the story is based on sexual encounters, the first thought is that it is about STDs. But over the course of 10 years, the film's massive fan base has come up with other, more intriguing theories.

Here are some of them, ranked from believable to completely crazy.

Believable: It Symbolizes Sexual Assault

Some fans think that the movie is not about a chain of people, but really focuses on Jay as a victim of sexual assault. All the sexual encounters she has seem consensual, but when you look at the story from a distance, you see that Jay is subjected to severe manipulation and violence. She is basically given, without her permission, something that will follow her forever. Trauma. The scene in the pool in this scenario represents a suicide attempt.

Makes Sense: It Stands for Unwanted Pregnancy

Similar to the previous theory, this one focuses on Jay alone. But this time the monster is an unwanted teenage pregnancy. We can see throughout the movie that It takes away every carefree aspect of Jay's life. School isn't safe anymore, she can't spend time with her friends, she doesn't have the free time to chill at the beach. In the end, she's trapped in a loveless relationship because her new boyfriend is the only one willing to accept the situation she's stuck in.

Pretty Smart: It Reflects Shame

Since sex is largely associated with shame in most cultures, some fans have speculated that it could be a metaphor for that terrible feeling of humiliation, of not being enough, not being worthy, not being lovable. This feeling usually comes in the teenage years and is associated with first crushes and intimate experimentation. In this case, passing it on to others means shaming them, which is never a solution to one's own insecurities.

Quite Far-Fetched: It Represents Addiction

This theory says that the movie is about drug addiction and that every sexual encounter actually represents the introduction to drugs, the monster that cannot be escaped means craving, the recurring theme of water is a new dose that gets bigger and bigger each time, and the deaths are caused by overdoses.

In the end, Jay manages to accept and cope with her addiction. But it never leaves her side.

Offbeat: It is a Demon in Hell

Finally, the most bizarre theory about It is based on the film's strange setting. Fans speculated that the teenagers don't live in Detroit, but were actually kidnapped from different decades and placed in Hell. That's why their parents are never in the picture. Hell is populated by various demons, one of which starts targeting those who have sex with each other.