‘You’re acting like a different person…’
It’s inevitable that when a horror film is a surprise success, a slew of successors will follow in its wake. Well, in 2022 the Philippou brothers took the world of cinema by storm with their innovative smash hit Talk to Me and now, less than two years later, first-time writer-director Greg Jardin brings us It’s What’s Inside. When it’s good, it’s really good…
A group of friends who have drifted apart reunite for a party eight years after they were last together. Forbes (David Thompson), the most elusive member of the group, turns up late and announces that he has created a machine that is capable of switching consciousness from one body to another. Yes, ladies and gents, this is a body-swap movie.
What marks this out from other films in the body swap subgenre is that it features multiple characters inhabiting multiple bodies. This is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it allows Jardin’s talented ensemble cast to flex their acting muscles. James Morosini builds on his excellent performance in I Love My Dad with another cringe-inducing turn here (he’s caught masturbating by his girlfriend in the opening scene and his character only becomes more embarrassing from there) and the whole cast share a convincing chemistry. The premise is also a curse, however, as all the body swapping makes the plot difficult to follow, despite the best efforts of Jardin who mixes stylish editing and ingenious cinematography to ensure that this thing mostly works. Where it falls down is in the third act in which everything becomes needlessly convoluted and the sheer amount of twists and turns renders the whole thing a little flat.
It’s What’s Inside clearly owes a debt to Talk to Me, it’s almost a spiritual sequel, but it also has enough of an authorial voice in the form of Jardin to still feel like it’s own thing. Not an unqualified success by any means but a promising debut feature nevertheless.
