It Chapter Two

Twenty-seven years after their terrifying childhood encounter with the shape-shifting entity Pennywise, the Losers' Club has scattered across the country. Bill Denbrough is a celebrated horror novelist, Beverly Marsh a successful fashion designer, and Richie Tozier a foul-mouthed stand-up comedian. They have all built lives far from Derry, Maine, burying the traumatic memories of that summer. But when a brutal hate crime and a series of disturbing events signal Pennywise's return, the lone Loser who stayed behind, Mike Hanlon, calls his friends back to fulfill a blood oath they made as children: to destroy the monster for good if it ever came back.

Directed by Andy Muschietti and based on Stephen King's epic novel, It Chapter Two is a direct sequel to the 2017 blockbuster It. The film reunites the adult cast, played by James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, and Andy Bean, alongside Bill Skarsgård as the terrifying Pennywise. With a budget of $79 million, the film grossed over $473 million worldwide, making it one of the highest-grossing horror sequels of all time.

Critics praised the performances, particularly Hader's blend of humor and pathos, but noted the film's 169-minute runtime and uneven pacing. The movie explores deeper themes of trauma, memory, and the power of friendship, while delivering the grotesque scares fans expected. It was nominated for several awards, including People's Choice and Saturn Awards, and a prequel series, It: Welcome to Derry, is in development for HBO Max. [edit]

The film opens in Derry, Maine, in 2016, with a brutal attack on a gay couple, Adrian Mellon and his boyfriend, by a group of homophobic teenagers. After the assault, Pennywise emerges from beneath a bridge and drags Adrian to his death. The incident is ruled a mysterious disappearance, but Mike Hanlon, the town librarian and the only Loser who stayed in Derry, recognizes Pennywise's signature. He has spent decades researching the entity's cyclical return every 27 years and now calls his childhood friends, reminding them of their pact.

The Losers' Club members receive the call in their respective homes. Bill Denbrough is in Los Angeles, struggling to write a satisfying ending to his latest novel. Beverly Marsh, now a fashion designer, is in an abusive marriage. Richie Tozier is a successful comedian in Los Angeles, using humor to mask his pain. Ben Hanscom is a wealthy architect in Nebraska, having shed his childhood weight. Eddie Kaspbrak is a hypochondriac risk analyst in New York, married to a woman who resembles his overbearing mother. Stanley Uris, a real estate agent in Atlanta, is so terrified by the call that he takes his own life in his bathtub, leaving a note for the others that he cannot face Pennywise again.

The remaining six Losers reunite at a Chinese restaurant in Derry, where they awkwardly reconnect and begin to remember their shared trauma. Mike reveals that he has discovered an ancient ritual, the Ritual of Chüd, which can destroy Pennywise permanently. To perform it, each Loser must retrieve a personal artifact from their past, an object that holds emotional significance and represents their childhood fear. The ritual requires them to confront their deepest fears in a psychic battle with the entity.

The Losers split up to find their artifacts. Bill goes to the house on Neibolt Street, where he retrieves his brother Georgie's paper boat. Beverly returns to her childhood apartment, now occupied by the elderly Mrs. Kersh, who transforms into a grotesque witch. She retrieves a note from her father. Richie visits the town's arcade, where a fortune-telling machine taunts him with a secret he has kept since childhood: his repressed homosexuality and his deep affection for Eddie. Ben revisits the school, where a bully's ghost attacks him, and he retrieves a yearbook. Eddie goes to the pharmacy, where a leper chases him, and he retrieves his childhood asthma inhaler. Mike visits the library, where a racist vision of a slave ship haunts him, and he retrieves a journal.

As they each retrieve their artifacts, Pennywise ramps up its attacks, manifesting their individual fears. The Losers regroup and prepare for the Ritual of Chüd, which Mike has learned from a book of Derry's history. The ritual involves a psychic link with Pennywise, where they must face the entity's true form, a giant spider-like creature from another dimension. But as they begin the ritual, they realize it is not working as expected. Pennywise is too powerful, and the ritual only enrages it. Eddie is impaled by a spike, and the group is forced to retreat. They realize that the ritual is a lie, a dead end. Mike admits he may have misinterpreted the text. The Losers are now scattered and terrified, with Pennywise closing in.[edit]