Andy Muschietti's 2017 film IT ends with Pennywise disguised as Georgie to trick Billy into thinking he is alive; here is how he knew it was a trick.

In 2017, Andy Muschietti’s first installment of his IT adaptation of Stephen King’s iconic 1986 horror novel of the same name was an immediate success upon release. IT: Chapter One was filled to the brim with blood, terror, nostalgia, and a deep sense of sadness. Set in the summer of 1989, it follows the Losers Club as they are face to face with Pennywise the Dancing Clown. At the climax of the film, the clown poses as Bill’s brother Georgie in order to trick him but, somehow, he knows that the boy he is looking at is not his brother.

When director Andy Muschietti took on the task of remaking the iconic clown from Tim Curry’s unforgettable performance as Pennywise, it was uncertain whether or not it would live up to the made for TV movie or Stephen King’s expectations. With a small filmography including his 2013 supernatural horror film Mama, the director was a newcomer in the genre, but quickly made his mark with his directorial debut. His adaptation of the iconic clown is a critically acclaimed masterpiece that perfectly captures the grief and guilt that drives the entirety of the book and movie’s plot.

After Bill Denbrough loses his little brother at the hands of Pennywise the clown, he and his friends Beverly, Mike, Stanley, Ben, and Richie search throughout Derry, Maine’s sewer system to find him. In the final battle between the Losers and the clown, Pennywise appears to Bill as Georgie and begs for him to take him back to the family home and out of the sewer. The scene is filled with intense emotions as Bill shoots him in the head, seeming to know definitively that Georgie was not his real brother.

How Bill Knew Georgie Was Pennywise In Disguise

In the beginning of the film, Bill builds Georgie a paper boat to play with in the rain. When Georgie thanks his brother for making it, Bill corrects him and tells him that boats are called “she.” It is the paper boat that leads the younger Denbrough to his death, as it slides into a sewer grate and Pennywise drags Georgie to his gruesome death. Throughout the opening scene, Georgie and Bill reiterate that the boat is called “she,” but Pennywise’s disguise calls it “it.”

When Bill hears that Georgie is now calling the boat “it,” he is immediately aware that who he is looking at is not his brother at all. Pennywise is known for his ability to transform into people’s greatest fears and desires to trick them into allowing him to consume them. While he comes close to presenting as the real Georgie, it was his fatal mistake of calling the boat “it” instead of “she” that caused Bill to acknowledge that it was Pennywise in disguise. Bill shoots the look-a-like, and the Losers have an all out brawl that defeats the creature for the time being.

The entirety of the film and its sequel are framed with Bill Denbrough’s grief over losing his little brother and guilt in believing it was his fault. This scene is also a reflection of Bill accepting the loss of Georgie and acknowledging that nothing, not even a clever Pennywise disguise, can replace him. It: Chapter One is an artful display of a classic Stephen King novel that delivers minute details in exquisite ways.

More: IT’s Pennywise: Who Played The Role Better, Skarsgard Or Curry?