I saw It's What's Inside. Why aren't more people spreading the body swap thriller?

Spoiler alert! There are some major spoilers for It’s what’s inside below. If you haven’t seen this yet Netflix film 2024Caution!

It’s what’s inside is easily one of the best and most imaginative releases on the market Cinema program 2024even if Netflix released Greg Jardin’s body-swap sci-fi thriller as if they wanted to treat it like a dirty little secret. I recently watched the film and was shocked to find that not only was there not much fanfare before its release, but no one seems to be talking about it. How ever.

The film revolves around a group of friends who get together for a pre-wedding party/reunion (#reuphia), where they play a wild party game that involves switching bodies using a mysterious device. A cool concept and Spin on the body swap genrean outstanding cast and excellent execution It’s what’s inside a unique and captivating experience. Still, no one really talks about one of the best Netflix movies, and it’s pretty confusing…

(Image credit: Netflix)

I didn’t know anything about what was in it until my wife sent me a TikTok

Since I work for an entertainment news site and all, I usually mention a random movie to my wife and pester her about it until she gives in and we watch something she knows nothing about. But it was a completely different story It’s what’s insideas I didn’t know about it until she sent me a TikTok claiming it was one of the wildest Horror films on Netflix.

Little did I know that a random movie site on TikTok would soon introduce me to one of the most exciting, captivating, and unforgettable cinematic experiences in a long time. But it does raise an issue I have with the launch, as there’s no excitement surrounding one of the best, under-the-radar releases of the year.

Screenshot of Cyrus on the phone in prison in It's What's Inside

(Image credit: Netflix)

The film shows how dark a body swap story can get

Like pretty much every other body swap movie, It’s what’s inside had a lot of fun with the concept, at least initially. When the core group of friends use the mysterious device to swap places with each other and play a game in which they try to discover each other’s true identities, they are (mostly) amazed at the experience. But then it gets worse. Much, much worse. And I loved it.

Instead of experiencing a situation where someone is trapped in someone else’s body (although that does happen), the film takes a twist where two of the friends die in a tragic accident while exploring the new bodies. I found this situation quite fascinating as your mind and soul cannot simply return to your completely dead (how cruelly dead) body. We are long past the point of no return and there is no coming back from this new reality.

And even though the film kind of falls back into the tropes of the genre in the last few minutes, it was so much fun to watch this deviation from the path and the incredibly dark situation in which the game goes horribly wrong.

Screenshot of characters looking at themselves in the mirror in It's What's Inside

(Image credit: Netflix)

I didn’t find any of the characters likeable, but I guess that’s the point

It’s rare to find a film in which not a single character is redeemable or likeable, but It’s what’s inside does exactly that. In fact, I think this was Greg Jardin’s intention when he created these self-obsessed, tone-deaf, superficial, and petty “friends” who only seem to care about traumatic events like the death of a parent or a best friend’s expulsion from college connect and other similar episodes. And you know what, I absolutely love this aspect.

Surely you won’t find it Characters with great storylines where they undergo a radical change (at least not mentally). It’s what’s insidebut honestly it works in a movie like this. I didn’t sympathize with any of the characters (well, maybe apart from David W. Thompson’s Forbes), but the rest of the group took everything into their own hands in one way or another.

Whether it’s James Morosini’s Cyrus and his failure to communicate and his creepy games, Brittany O’Grady’s Shelby with her desire to constantly please while losing touch with herself, or Alycia Debnam-Carey’s social media influencer Nikki and her online -Obsession with fame, everyone in the film has some major flaws that it doesn’t necessarily address. And if they do, it’s not of their own free will.

But we don’t have to like characters to like a movie, and that’s certainly the case for us It’s what’s inside and his terrible group of “friends.”

Screenshot of Beatrice in the rearview mirror in It's What's Inside

(Image credit: Netflix)

Writer/director Greg Jardin used deft camerawork to keep the unique premise from becoming too confusing

However, there are some problems with it The It’s what’s inside End While they don’t really make much sense when you really think about it, director Greg Jardin does a great job of keeping the unique premieres from becoming too confusing.

At the beginning of the film, Brooke (Reina Hardesty) shows off some of her new artwork, which looks completely different through different colored lenses. Later, when everyone has switched bodies, Jardin uses this technique to let the viewer know who is who, who is telling the truth, and who is lying to their “friends” about what is going on. This clever technique prevents you from going back and forth, trying so hard to figure out the real identities that you lose track of the movie. The cinematography, handled by Kevin Fletcher, also enhances these scenes with some cool and eye-catching 360 degree shots that help you keep track of all the characters in some of the more hectic and confusing scenes.

Screenshot from It's What's Inside

(Image credit: Netflix)

I don’t think there’s much fanfare It’s what’s inside Simply because Netflix isn’t promoting it as much as studios like Blumhouse and A24 would if they released the clever and unique film.

This thriller has a lot in common with Talk to meone of the best A24 horror filmsin the sense that both focus on parties that come to a screeching halt when partygoers don’t respect the power of something they don’t understand. This film, which ended up grossing more than $92 million a piece Box office mojogenerated a lot of buzz and word of mouth surrounding its release, and I think that may have been the case with this Netflix film as well.

The same goes for great Blumhouse horror films How Exit, M3GANAnd Freaky (another body swap horror film) that has been gaining an audience and a lot of buzz in recent years. If the film had been promoted more, Netflix could have been a huge hit.

It’s what’s inside is currently streaming for everyone with one Netflix subscription. If you’re looking for more horror movies, check out our breakdown of all the upcoming horror movies coming to theaters and some of them best streaming services.

I saw It’s What’s Inside. Why aren’t more people spreading the body swap thriller?

I didn’t know anything about what was in it until my wife sent me a TikTok

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