Twenty-seven years is a long time to wait for a clown to come back. When Andy Muschietti’s first installment of the Stephen King adaptation shattered box office records in 2017, the hype for It Chapter Two felt almost impossible to satisfy. We’d all fallen in love with the kids from the Losers' Club. Seeing them grow up into Bill Hader and Jessica Chastain felt like the natural next step, but the sequel ended up being a much weirder, longer, and more polarizing beast than the first half.
Honestly, it’s a miracle the movie works at all.
Trying to condense the second half of Stephen King’s 1,100-page tome into a single feature film is a nightmare. You’ve got to deal with cosmic turtles, ancient rituals, and the tricky reality that adults fighting a clown just isn't inherently as scary as children doing it. It Chapter Two leans hard into the trauma. It’s less about jump scares—though there are plenty of those—and more about how the things that happened to us when we were twelve never really leave us. They just hide in the basement of our brains until someone calls us back to our hometown.
The Adult Losers and the Casting Magic
Casting was the one thing everyone agreed on. It’s perfect. Bill Hader as Richie Tozier isn't just "funny guy" casting; it’s a soul-shattering performance once you realize the secret his character is carrying. James Ransone as the adult Eddie Kaspbrak looks so much like Jack Dylan Grazer it’s actually kind of unsettling.
But the movie struggles with a weird pacing issue. Because the characters have forgotten their past, the script forces them to split up for a good hour of the runtime to "find their tokens." This is where the 169-minute length starts to feel heavy. We go through a repetitive cycle: a character goes to a basement or an old pharmacy, has a flashback to a never-before-seen encounter with Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård), screams, and runs away.
The chemistry between the adults is great, but the movie keeps pulling us back to the kids. It’s like Muschietti knew we’d miss the 1980s vibes, so he used de-aging technology—which, let’s be real, looked a bit "uncanny valley" in a few scenes—to keep the original cast involved. It makes the movie feel like a remix of the first one rather than a straight progression.
That Bizarre Ending and the Ritual of Chüd
If you haven't read the book, the Ritual of Chüd sounds like something a toddler made up. In the novel, it involves a psychic battle of wits and a giant turtle named Maturin who vomited the universe into existence.
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Wisely, the movie skips the turtle.
Instead, It Chapter Two tries to ground the ritual in a more cinematic way. Our heroes head into the caverns under the Well House to trap Pennywise’s essence in a ceremonial vessel. It doesn't go well. The climax turns into a massive CGI spectacle where Pennywise transforms into a giant spider-clown hybrid. Some fans hated this. They felt it stripped the character of his mystery. But if you look at the themes, the way they eventually defeat him—by literally "making him small" through insults and stripping away his power—is actually quite poignant.
It’s about bullying the bully.
It’s about realizing that fear only has the power you give it. They don't win because they have bigger guns or better magic; they win because they stop being afraid. They realize Pennywise is just a pathetic, hungry thing that feeds on insecurity.
What the Movie Changed from the Book
Stephen King fans are a tough crowd to please. Most people were happy to see the controversial "sewer scene" from the 1950s timeline left out (thankfully), but other changes were more divisive.
- Audra and Tom: In the book, Bill’s wife and Bev’s abusive husband both follow them to Derry. They play huge roles in the finale. In the movie? They’re basically cameos. Tom hits Bev once, she leaves, and he’s never seen again. Audra is barely a footnote.
- The Secret of Richie Tozier: This was the movie’s biggest and best swing. Explicitly confirming Richie’s feelings for Eddie added a layer of tragedy to the ending that the book only hinted at. When Richie carves their initials into the bridge at the end, it’s a gut-punch.
- The Fate of Stan Uris: This remains the most controversial part of the story. Stan takes his own life because he’s too afraid to return. In the movie, they try to frame it as a "sacrifice"—that he knew he was the weakest link and would get them all killed. It’s a risky narrative choice that many mental health advocates and fans found problematic. It tries to turn a tragedy into a tactical decision.
Why Pennywise Still Works
Bill Skarsgård’s performance remains the gold standard for modern horror. He doesn't just play a monster; he plays an apex predator that is constantly salivating. Literally. Skarsgård has this physical quirk where he can drop his bottom lip and drool on command, and Muschietti uses it to make the clown look perpetually hungry.
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In It Chapter Two, we see more of "Bob Gray." We get that creepy scene with the granddaughter of the woman who lived in Beverly’s old apartment. It suggests that the entity has been here a long, long time, blending into the history of Derry like a bloodstain you can't scrub out.
The Box Office and Critical Legacy
The film made over $473 million. That’s a massive hit by any standard, but it was a significant drop from the first movie’s $700 million plus. Critics were mixed. The common complaint was that it was too long and not "scary" enough.
But maybe it wasn't trying to be a pure horror movie.
It feels more like a dark fantasy epic about the end of childhood. It’s the Return of the King of horror movies. It’s bloated, emotional, messy, and loud. It’s also incredibly sincere. You can tell the filmmakers loved these characters. They didn't want to say goodbye to them, which is probably why the movie has about four different endings.
Misconceptions About the "It" Entity
A lot of people walk away from the movie thinking Pennywise is just an alien. That’s a bit of an oversimplification. According to the lore (and the "Deadlights" we see in the film), It is an interdimensional being from the Macroverse.
The physical form of the spider or the clown is just a projection our human brains can wrap themselves around. If you saw the true form of the Deadlights, you’d go instantly insane. That’s what happened to Bill’s wife in the book. The movie simplifies this by making the Deadlights a sort of "stunning" beam, but the implication is the same: we are looking at something that doesn't belong in our reality.
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Practical Steps for Fans and New Viewers
If you’ve watched the movie and feel like you’re missing pieces of the puzzle, here is how to actually digest this massive story:
Watch the Supercut (If you can find it): Andy Muschietti has long talked about a "supercut" that combines both movies into one chronological narrative with deleted scenes restored. While it hasn't had a massive official theatrical release, keep an eye on Max (formerly HBO Max) for special editions.
Read the Book, but Skip Around: If the 1,100 pages intimidate you, focus on the "Derry Interludes." These are chapters where the character Mike Hanlon investigates the town's history. They explain why Derry is so "evil" better than any of the movies could.
Check out "Welcome to Derry": There is a prequel series in development. It’s set to explore the origins of the curse and the town's earlier encounters with Pennywise. Understanding the 1960s/1980s setting of the films requires knowing that the "cycle" happens every 27 years like clockwork.
Listen to the Soundtrack: Benjamin Wallfisch’s score for the second film is actually superior to the first. It uses leitmotifs for each character that evolve as they regain their memories. It’s a masterclass in musical storytelling that most people ignore because they’re too busy looking for the clown in the shadows.
The legacy of It Chapter Two is complicated. It’s a film that tries to do everything at once and succeeds at about 75% of it. But in an era of cookie-cutter horror, there is something deeply respectable about a big-budget movie that takes huge risks, features a suicidal clown-spider, and ends with a group of adults crying in a lake because they finally remember who they are.
Next time you watch it, ignore the jump scares. Look at the background of the scenes in Derry. Pennywise is everywhere—in the posters on the walls, the statues in the park, and the faces of the extras. The movie isn't just about a monster; it's about how a whole town can be complicit in its own nightmare.