It’s What’s Inside, set to release in 2024, is a thought-provoking and intricately woven thriller that blends genres. It’s directed and scribbled by Greg Jardin. It’s What’s Inside starts as a normal reunion tale, but quickly shifts to an intense plot where body swapping manifests alongside intricate psychological issues and social commentary. This film comprises science fiction, horror, and dark comedy, but most importantly, it offers a critique on the contemporary perception of identity, trust, and the façade people uphold in relationships.
It’s What’s Inside received accolades for the originality, bold telling, and ensemble performance claiming the originality and execution of the premise was unparalleled. It also sparked extensive conversations post-release at film festivals. The movie rather than merely attempt to impress through high-concept premises dives into absolute essence delving into who we as a society are and the grotesque outcomes of bearing one’s thought.
The Plot
A group of eight college friends are set to reunite in a remote house to celebrate a weekend getaway just before one of their weddings. The aim of this gathering is to come celebrate reaffirming and reminiscing. However, in between the celebration lies long battled conflicts and underlying tensions with deep-rooted secrets.
A warm, welcoming atmosphere is abruptly shattered by the arrival of Shelby, a long-lost estranged friend whose presence has been missing from the group for a while. She brings along a strange metallic suitcase, which contains an equally strange and experimental pastime device that lets two persons temporarily switch bodies. Initially skeptical, the group comes around, and what commences as a ‘party’ game quickly spirals into psychological chaos.
As the friends start interacting with the device, their revelations while being in each others’ bodies uncovers unprecedented truths in the form of hidden feelings, traumas, and insecurities. What was supposed to be entertaining fun shy away towards an unsettling and often disturbing experiment in empathy. As chilling as it sounds, the device does not simply empower people to look through other’s lenses; it compels them to experience memories, emotions, and pain of other users. As time elapses, identities start fluidly blurring, relationships fracture, and senses of self become permanently altered.
Cast and Characters
Brittany O’Grady as Shelby
Shelby serves as the story’s propellant by rejoining the friend group after a lengthy hiatus and bringing along the device that unleashes the disorder of the film. O’Grady performs her with captivating intensity and mystery, balancing on a delicate edge between volatility and softness.
James Morosini interprets Cyrus.
Cyrus’s calculating demeanor is paired with emotional detachment. When placed into a different vessel, his emotional stoicism shatters, exposing layers of festering guilt and pent-up emotion.
Alycia Debnam-Carey portrays Nikki.
Charismatic and confident, Nikki begins to question the authenticity of her relationships due to her personal struggles during the experiment.
Devon Terrell plays Reuben.
Reuben is in the midst of battling a deep-seated identity crisis. Living life in another person’s body forces him to confront his decisions and appreciation for himself.
Alongside Gavin Leatherwood as Dennis, Reina Hardesty as Brooke, Nina Bloomgarden as Maya, David Thompson as Forbes, and Madison Davenport as Beatrice join the cast. Each actor has double duty as they all play different characters who are later body-swapped with their counterparts.
The ensemble cast transforms into characters that silently aid the main actor through supporting dialogue and acting, all while remaining visibly off-stage. The audience is provided clues as to who is who through subtle almost imperceptible but effective character transform.
Directional and Cinematic Approach
The direction of and stylization of the film is quite elegant and decisive in the hands of Greg Jardin. This feature film is his first, and he captures the overlapping storyline with unmatched attention to detail. Although the movie is set in one primary location, the lighting, editing, and sound create a dynamic feeling of space and mood that is ever shifting. Emotional stakes rather than jump scares appeal more as pop thriller cliches and tension escalates slowly.
The progression of internal character arcs shifts the focus visually as well. The imagery accompanying the body-switching becomes surreal and distorted creating a psychological dislocation that mirrors their rising paranoia and confusion.
Kevin Fletcher, the film’s cinematographer, makes us of sharp contrasts with tender framing to capture emotional outbursts as Andrew Hewitt’s score oscillating between eerie and hauntingly melancholic further embellishes the film’s profound tonal essence.
Essay Themes & Analysis
The science-fiction concepts in It’s What’s Inside do not work in isolation. Jardin employs the body-swapping to examine a number of compelling motifs:
- Self Reflection and Individual Identity
What does the film suggest: What do we strip everything away? An altered perspective exists when one character occupies the body of another—memories, pain, and regret that were hidden in the past come alive. This encourages a reassessment of not just friendships but the notion of oneself.
- Emotional Transparency and Exposure
There are no more lies to be told, and there is no means of hiding. The device makes it impossible for an individual character to remain concealed. Elements of one character’s inner murky waters will, without their permission, be witnessed by others, and exchanges of thoughts for some lead to healing, while for others, the exposure is damaging. It’s a mesmeric commentary on how elusive raw emotional vulnerability is, and how deeply unsettling it is when one can show it.
- Relationship Fragility
The film portrays an overthrow of friendships once thought to be solid and unbreakable, revealing how after years of closeness, people are remarkably hindered by the notion of knowing one another. Other people upon forced intimacy reveal past betrayals, repressed desires, and succumbing resentments that are long festering.
Reception and Impact
It’s What’s Inside was noted for both its originality and its juggling of emotions complicated storytelling within a science fiction framework. Contemporaneous critics lauded the ensemble performances alongside the film’s sharp screenplay, as well as its bold psychological and thematic risks, praising it as “one of the most intelligent ideas within a psychological thriller in the last decade.”
Several members of the audience pointed out how the film’s rapid character shifts and high-concept structure could be off-putting for those more accustomed to conventional films.
Conclusion
It’s What’s Inside is an example of a cross-genre film that dares to be innovative, experimenting with the human mind and emotions deeply. It utilizes the body-swap concept to peel off social masks and reveals the intricacy of human relationships and identity, forcefully exposing the raw reality beneath.
Greg Jardin maintains breathtaking confidence in his vision as he directs a gifted cast through a maze of evolving perspective and emotional insights. This is not simply a film about a party gone awry or a mysterious contraption—it is a meditative exercise on empathy and a contemplative investigation on the impact of genuinely witnessing and experiencing someone else’s existence from within.
It’s What’s Inside will surprise those looking for a thriller that is both cerebral and profound, suggesting the grim revelation of how tenuous our sense of self can be and how deeply interconnected we are beneath our facades.
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