After watching Stephen King’s thriller It, I don’t know if red balloons will ever look the same to me. A movie in which a clown is the main antagonist may not seem really enticing, but this isn’t an ordinary clown, and some of the tricks up his sleeve wouldn’t be seen at an ordinary birthday party.

It first hit box office September 8 and is still available for viewing in some theaters. The movie is set in the fictional town of Derry, Maine where a dancing clown by the name of Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) terrorizes children. Feeding off kids’ worst fears, Pennywise is able to wreak havoc for years. One rainy night, however, he takes 7-year-old Georgie Denbrough (Jackson Robert Scott) and his older brother Bill (Jaeden Lieberher) unites with his six other friends to try and defeat this clown. The chemistry amongst the children is so authentic and real that as a viewer, you begin rooting for their success and feeling their fear. Despite some unnecessary jumping out your seat moments like when the drain in the sink tries to pull Beverly (Sophia Lillis) down it, the movie is still able to maintain suspense and a subtle comedic undertone that gives it a genuine feel.

It uses each of the characters’ individual fears and confrontations with Pennywise as a way to not only give character development but to give a commonality that brings all the children together.

There are some exaggerated and unrealistic situations in the movie that are unnecessary, like when the town bully cuts a word into a fat kid’s stomach or Pennywise is able to convince the same town bully to kill his own father. Despite this, It stays pretty relatable other than the whole shapeshifting, kid-eating clown thing.

Another facet of the film is that throughout the entirety of It, as a viewer you are thinking, “What can’t this clown do?” especially after seeing how it can shape-shift. The clown’s capabilities leave you wondering how seven children could possibly defeat him. However, one of the main concepts is that Pennywise feeds off their fear which enables him to turn into anything like a woman from a painting or Georgie himself, but once the kids let go of their fear, they are able to defeat him—all of his power is drained. It is definitely a must see movie of the year and one of the premier thriller movies of all-time.