It’s What’s Inside review: bodies, bodies, bodies

Who among us wouldn’t take the opportunity to shed our skin for a moment? Especially in an age when the most enviable details of other people’s lives are cherry-picked and broadcast on social media, it’s easy to feel an ever-diminishing sense of self-worth. Yet sometimes it takes a truly out-of-body perspective to understand one’s own strengths and, more importantly, the inherent weaknesses of others – to cut through the negative noise of internal monologues.

It’s what’s insidethe feature debut of writer-director Greg Jardin, shows that clearly, even as the film inevitably veers away from making any striking social commentary. It starts with elderly couple Shelby (Brittany O’Grady) and Cyrus (James Morosini), whose sex life is so stagnant that the curly-haired beauty feels compelled to don a conventional blonde wig to spice things up. In reality, they’re both a little obsessed with Nikki (Alycia Debnam-Carey), a friend from their college days who is now a major social media influencer. Shelby carefully chose the synthetic platinum locks and even specific catchphrases to turn on Cyrus, who hasn’t gushed over Nikki so clandestinely in almost a decade.

It turns out that Shelby, Cyrus and Nikki will soon reunite with the rest of their college friend group on the eve of Rueben’s (Devon Terrell) wedding. Rounding out the crew are hippie stoner Maya (Nina Bloomgarden), brash alt-girl Brooke (Reina Hardesty) and affable slacker Dennis (Gavin Leatherwood). They collectively settle back into their dynamic, belching gossip of the past years. Brooke and Maya immediately delve into the events that led to one of their other core group members, Forbes (David Thompson), cutting ties with the rest of them. Predictably, he shows up unexpectedly shortly afterwards, carrying a mysterious suitcase.

The group, already struggling with drink and drugs, excitedly accepts Forbes back into the fold, even though some are suspicious of his sudden return. He proposes a party game, similar to Mafia, in which everyone temporarily has their consciousness transferred to someone else’s body. The winner is the one who can correctly identify everyone while they are in someone else’s flesh. It turns out that inside the suitcase is a device that makes all this possible, with wires and electrodes that facilitate the cognitive switch. As everyone embraces their new bodies, underlying tensions – sexual, political, emotional – inevitably surface. Can the warm body of a loved one or enemy itself act as a channel for catharsis?

Of course, the performances are fascinating to take in, as personalities must be preserved regardless of the ship they are in. Thompson is particularly revealing, perhaps because he glosses over the true reason for his return until a final revelation that recontextualizes the drama of a disastrous party in the past that resulted in disciplinary action from the university they all attended. Still, each actor must implicitly study all eight characters and convey their distinct personalities, and no one in the ensemble rejects the assignment outright (that said, some cast members certainly have more screen time than others). Shelby and Cyrus’ arguments follow them through various physical forms, which drive most of the story and, admittedly, become a bit tiresome. It would have been nice to get a more detailed insight into some of the other bonds between these friends, although it is made clear how wandering eyes and lingering grudges affect the individual relationships and the wider group of friends.

If It’s what’s inside flagrantly falters, it is in its understated vulgarity. For a group of shamelessly horny millennials, there isn’t nearly enough sexual experimentation embedded in the R-rated story. Many pressing questions remain: if no one in the group had the opportunity to experience an orgasm from another sexual organ, would it be taken seriously? What does sexuality look like when the object of your desire occupies the body of a different gender? Is what makes our identity likable or unlikable related to our perceived physical attractiveness? None of these questions need to be answered or unraveled directly, but the predominantly heterosexual perspective of the characters does limit the film’s sexual imagination.

Although it is marketed as a horror film, It’s what’s inside is more aptly described as a constantly changing whodunit. There’s no over-the-top gore, no stalking-slasher, no supernatural interference. Jardin’s film feels clearly in conversation with titles like Knives out And Bodies Bodies Bodiesthat are tense and mysterious, but contain a palpable sense of humor. There’s a lot to laugh about here, making it the perfect movie night selection for a large group when it hits Netflix (the sheer amount of smoked weed will also make you glad you watched it close to a tray). While the film’s social commentary isn’t radically astute, it does manage to capture the nature of a real party game: there’s a lot of tension initially, but you can’t play along forever.

Director: Greg Jardin
Writer: Greg Jardin
Starring: Brittany O’Grady, James Morosini, Gavin Leatherwood, Nina Bloomgarden, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Reina Hardesty, Devon Terrell, David W. Thompson, Madison Davenport
Release date: October 4, 2024 (Netflix)