Psychological black comedy thriller It's What's Inside is something that has been on my radar since it debuted at Sundance back in January. The debut feature from writer/director/editor Greg Jardin is a super low budget, twist-happy ensemble piece about a pre-wedding reunion between college friends (Brittany O'Grady, James Morosini, Gavin Leatherwood, Nina Bloomgarden, Alycia Debnam-Carrey, Reina Hardesty, Devon Terrell) that goes awry when an unexpected guest (David W. Thompson) from their past arrives with a suitcase containing a party game that threatens to drastically alter their lives moving forward was among the small number of titles that brought down the house in Park City this year. All of those rowdy screenings eventually lead to It's What's Inside getting its worldwide distribution rights picked up by Netflix for $17 million-which ended up being the biggest acquisition deal of this year's festival. While I don't lament the producers for taking the money Netflix threw at them, the at-home viewing experience of It's What's Inside left something to be desired that could very well have been remedied by being released in the same theatrical venues where the streaming giant's team first saw the film.
As I alluded to above, It's What's Inside is a movie that makes heavy use of mind games, misdirection and plot twists to tell its story. There's really no shortage of moments-particularly in the back half of the movie-that would generate gasps, cheers, applause or really any emotion of excitement, surprise or jubilation from a crowd. Without the energy of a crowd however, the entire affair has really nothing going for it outside of Jardin's confident, stylish direction and trippy visuals/editing/camerawork that vibrantly illustrates the disorienting sensory experience its characters are going through. The big bag of sleight-of-hand tricks that serves as the driver for the plot becomes more grating as the twists start to pile up, the satirical elements aren't at all funny or clever and while it was probably a deliberate creative choice, the characters are obnoxious, thinly written jabronis who are largely indistinguishable from one another and really not much fun to be around at all. Is it entirely possible that I still would've been left cold by It's What's Inside if I had seen in a theater? Absolutely, but this is a project that was designed to get pops from a large, engaged crowd and seeing it outside of that environment just quite simply removed most of whatever fun exists within this flashy wannabe mindfuck of a genre movie.
Grade: C
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