If you’ve grown weary of Netflix’s seemingly endless stream of formulaic content, It’s What’s Inside is a welcomed exception to the rule, being innovative, tense, and a little mind-bending to say the least. It centres around a group of college friends reuniting for a pre-wedding celebration, only to have the evening derailed when an estranged individual arrives unexpectedly, accompanied by a mysterious suitcase. An amalgamation of horror, black comedy, and psychological thriller, It’s What’s Inside conjures a resemblance to Bodies Bodies Bodies and Behind Her Eyes.
Director Greg Jardin’s stylistic visuals blend brilliantly with the premise, successfully establishing his individualistic flair. The film is imprinted with the mark of Gen Z – and I mean that in the best way – as Jardin provides a social commentary about influencer culture, body image, and the general implications of social media. It’s an exploration of identity and human desire as pent up emotions come to fruition in a night saturated with lust, jealousy, obsession, and revenge. The entire project could be viewed as a giant thought experiment, posing countless philosophical questions surrounding ethics, morality, the mind-body interaction, and most fundamentally: what actually is it that makes you you?
Despite receiving slightly mixed reviews, I would applaud It’s What’s Inside for its creative ingenuity. Perhaps yes, the characters are a little caricatured and yes, maybe the ending could be further enhanced with a touch of ambiguity, but It’s What’s Inside will certainly have you captivated for the full 103 minutes as the plot twists and turns until its final breath.