It

I have read Stephen King's best-selling novel It multiple times but the last time I read it was quite a while ago.  As I watched the new movie adaptation, I knew enough about the story and the characters to be completely invested very quickly but I couldn't remember enough to make comparisons between the script and the novel.  That was just the right mix for me because I thought the movie was fantastic (unlike the other Stephen King adaptation this summer).  There is something evil lurking in the sewers of Derry and it reappears, most often in the guise of Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Bill Skarsgard), to haunt the town's inhabitants every 27 years.  After Georgie Denbrough (Jackson Robert Scott) goes missing, his brother Bill (Jaeden Martell) and his friends Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor), Beverly (Sophia Lillis), Richie (Finn Wolfhard), Stan (Wyatt Oleff), Mike (Chosen Jacobs), and Eddie (Jack Dylan Grazer) try to figure out what is causing so many of Derry's children to disappear.  Bill and the rest of the "Loser's Club" are all misfits in one way or another and Pennywise appears to each of them as what they fear the most.  They must band together in an epic confrontation with Pennywise in order to save Beverly.  The narrative ends with all seven of the kids making a blood pact to come back and face Pennywise again if it comes back, setting the stage for the next movie.  What I liked most about this movie is that it is an emotionally satisfying coming-of-age story about a group of kids who have to face their greatest fears.  By the end of the movie I cared deeply about each one of them and that is due, in large part, to the nuanced performances of the young actors, especially Lillis whose story arc is the most disturbing.  All seven of them are wonderful and I loved their interactions with each other because they seemed so natural and real with quite a few really funny moments to balance out the terror.  I've heard some criticism that it isn't scary enough but don't listen to it.  In my opinion, it is plenty scary (so please don't take your young children to see it). I jumped about a mile in a particularly tense scene.  Skarsgard plays Pennywise in a way that is completely different from Tim Curry's portrayal in the 1990 miniseries but it is no less frightening.  I definitely recommend this movie!

Note:  Now I am very eager for the sequel and, I have to admit, I already started casting the adult roles in my head before the movie even ended!  Amy Adams as Beverly?  Yes!