'It's What's Inside' Review: A nice concept executed to perfection
Not quite a full-blown horror entry but more than a thriller, the unknown cast makes it great.
Sometimes, it’s nice to just click on a movie and see what happens. Maybe a few minutes pass and your mind drifts, or you become sunken into the plot and care for the characters. It’s intuitive and unpredictable, a piece of make believe colliding with our current mood and taste in entertainment.
It’s What’s Inside debuted on Netflix Friday, boasting a cast of actors that few film fans could point out by name without at least a few seconds of hesitation and an intriguing setup. A bunch of high school friends coming together in a friend’s mansion before he gets married the next day, and coming into contact with the class whiz kid who brought a different kind of party gift.
An old fashioned suitcase opens up to a bunch of wires and psychotherapy-type forehead stickers that usually means the brain is going to be under duress. All get hooked up, push a button, and come back into consciousness… but in a different body. Picture The Big Chill meets Body Snatchers, but spun into a modern day take on body image, social media, and unspoken past lusts and weaknesses.
Debuting at Sundance in January before nabbing a Netflix lineup spot, Greg Jardin’s (both writing and directing here) unique blend of shock and stress is as close to intoxicating as what you can scroll over that doesn’t sound familiar. Right when you think most of the cast will get picked off quickly, the plot just keeps boiling and revealing unseen parts of a character’s personality.
Have you heard of Gavin Leatherwood? One of his I.M.D.B credits is The Sex Lives of College Girls, but he’s a presence here as Dennis, the party animal who has a crush that spins the night out of control. Brittany O’Grady was in a season of HBO’s White Lotus, but stands out as Sophia, who is scared of the game at first and then starts to like it when she gets to experience other people’s consciences. James Morosini (who also had a role in Sex Lives of College Girls) shines as a member of the party with perhaps the dirtiest secrets.
The game is a supreme mind trip. What if you could experience life from the point of view of one of your close friends, and see yourself with your own two eyes at the same time? Females tapping into male minds, and unknown rivals seeing how lustful the person they love looks at someone else all comes to the forefront. Little of it is predictable, most of it is quite entertaining, and all of it is watchable.
Perhaps, in a way, it’s memorable enough to watch again. Most movies like this try to do too much, lean hard into gore, and throw the entire concept out of whack. With It’s What’s Inside, the gravy is the concept and how the cast gets to portray different personalities. It’s a nice setup with a solid execution. It helps that the majority of the cast is relatively unknown, because you buy their characters that much quicker.
Best of all, Jardin’s film has a personality, a makeup all its own that includes title cards and a mix of tunes that keep us on our toes and enthused. These days, it’s a lot to ask a film you’re watching to have its own personality. A retread, rehash, concept recycling, and whatever else hits like Pizza Hut food; this feels like a mom and pop shop production. Having one person writing and directing means you’re watching something that had doesn’t feel repurposed.
Scrolling upon a decent old flick that you can digest anytime is a nice surprise. Wandering up on a movie that surprises you with its pacing, timing, and plot is a genuine cinematic experience that should be talked about. Instagram users should definitely be interested, especially the ones who walk on the jealous side of the cyber street.
If you need a new flick this weekend, give It’s What’s Inside a try. You’ll be curious, a little scared, and may pump a fist after the final line of the movie.