'It's What's Inside' Reviews: Film is Destined to Become "a teen sleepover staple"

         On October 4, 2024, Netflix released 'It's What's Inside', which has received predominantly positive reviews from critics, currently holding at 81% on Rotten Tomatoes. In the film, "A pre-wedding reunion descends into a psychological nightmare for a group of college friends when a surprise guest arrives with a mysterious suitcase." The ensemble cast includes Brittany O'Grady, Devon Terrell, Gavin Leatherwood, Reina Hardesty, Alycia Debnam-Carey, and James Morosini. Read the full review round-up below.

        David Fear of Rolling Stone says, "It’s a box, with a number of different dials, blinking lights, and outlets. A series of snaking electrodes connect this whatsit to participants’ noggins; there seem to be enough to go around for Forbes and all of his old pals. Rather than tell them what this doohickey does, he’s going to show them. A switch is flipped, and suddenly, everyone’s switched bodies — as in, Cyrus is now housing Forbes’ consciousness, Brooke is now inside Nikki’s head, etc. Then a second switch is flipped, and everything returns to normal. Everybody is like, whoa! That was insane!! Let’s do it again!!!" Adding, "We’ve been kindly asked to keep spoilers to a minimum, and assuming you can follow the borderline nonsensical twists and turns that happen from here on in — we truly wish you the best of luck — here’s where It’s What’s Inside starts to venture into potential shhh territory. So we’ll note that maybe some people aren’t really who they say they are once the round starts. Maybe some folks take advantage of this situation to indulge in less-than-kosher behavior. Maybe sex and death come into the picture. Maybe alliances are formed that pit old friends against each other. Maybe a peripheral character will suddenly play a major part at the very last second, pushing your already strained suspension-of-disbelief to the snapping point. Maybe you’ll throw your hands up in frustration at how needlessly hard this is to follow."

       Nick Schager of The Daily Beast writes, It’s What’s Inside plumbs young adults’ yearning for reinvention, only to posit it as terrifyingly foolhardy, and the lengths to which it mixes and matches its characters is consistently amusing. At a certain point, the film self-consciously winks at its audience via a blistering diagrammatic sequence that lays out various potential mind-body combinations. Yet it never pats itself or its audience on the back, too busy is it concocting more disorienting dilemmas. Once he dials the mayhem to 11, Jardin never turns it back down, racing to and fro in a setting whose outlandish artistic embellishments (a 360-degree mirrored room; a hallway with an ice-like sculpture on its ceiling) contribute to its trippiness. Considering that it’s going straight to Netflix, It’s What’s Inside will never be a midnight-madness sensation. Still, it’s no small consolation prize to become a teen sleepover staple, which seems likely to be its destiny."

       Ross McIndoe of Slant Magazine notes, "For its big finale, the film tries to pull off a Midsommar-esque blast of catharsis. When we watch a guy get burned alive in Ari Aster’s film, we’re aware that this can’t rationally be called a just punishment for his crimes, but it’s satisfying all the same because the man in question has been an unrelenting, gaslighting asshole, and the sort that usually goes unavenged on screen. It’s What’s Inside gets the formula a little bit off and the blackly comic note it ends on is rendered a less satisfying as a result. But just as a good party game isn’t ruined by a lackluster final round, Jardin’s film is far too pleasure to hold its mildly disappointing denouement against it."

       Abe Friedtanzer of The Film Experience praises the film, stating, "This cast is also terrific, led by O’Grady, best known for her underappreciated role in season one of The White Lotus. Morosini makes a welcome return to SXSW after premiering the hilarious I Love My Dad at the festival two years ago, and his part is particularly challenging because he exhibits such unlikable qualities yet still has to be somewhat sympathetic. The rest of the ensemble is just as great, each tapping into hidden elements of their characters that make them immensely worthwhile and difficult to forget. While its title and its classification in the midnight sections at both Sundance and SXSW may imply that it’s a horror film, It’s What’s Inside is most definitely not. It almost feels impossible to categorize, but it contains many funny, applause-worthy moments and a few scenes of tension that are more unnerving than scary. It boasts a stellar script from writer-director Greg Jardin, whose feature debut is extraordinary and should definitely be watched for any future projects. This is an exceptional film fully in its own league, one that should be anticipated and seen without giving in to the natural pressure to want to know more about the meaning of its title."

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