'It's What's Inside' is a quality midnight movie
Netflix
Where “Bodies Bodies Bodies” was “The Big Chill” as an untrustworthy social media era’s deadly whodunit, the similar “It’s What’s Inside” inhabits a body-swapping comedy to tweak the possibilities for a friend group’s “What if?” reunion. With eight main characters rotating among a party in a stunning, ominous mansion, there’s A LOT to keep track of. The result is something that, depending on who’s watching, is a bunch of fun to experience in a giddy daze or perhaps with pen and paper in hand, mapping shifting identities and how current motivations are driven by past feelings and lingering curiosities.
Not saying I did that. But I thought about it.
Gathered in advance of Reuben’s (Devon Terrell) impending nuptials to the absent Sophia (Aly Nordlie), a bunch of seemingly incongruous personalities explode as themselves and then as each other, as Shelby (Brittany O’Grady of “The White Lotus”), her foolish, inarticulate boyfriend Cyrus (James Morosini of “I Love My Dad”), Instagram star Nikki (Alycia Debnam-Carey of “Fear the Walking Dead”), and other old pals come together while pretty much expecting to come apart. At least upon the arrival of Forbes (David Thompson), a notorious wild card who brings a briefcase that results in the aforementioned switcheroos. If you watched “Friends from College” and imagined how dizzying a heaping dose of sci-fi might change things, here ya go.
No sense being fancy about it: Writer-director Greg Jardin simply directs the hell out of “It’s What’s Inside,” which at all times is a stylistic hoot with more than enough narrative to match. Sure, many of the ideas here have been done before, including some other highlights of the last decade like “The One I Love” and “Ingrid Goes West.” Yet the demanding premise rewards attention while also feeling effectively contained, twisty but understandable. (The cast is exceptional at adjusting their performances based on which character is inside which body.) Surely this would all play better in a big theater late at night than on streaming; guess house parties will have to do.
B
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