It Lives Inside (2023)

• Year: 2023
• Released: 22 Sep 2023
• Country: United States
• Adwords: 1 win & 2 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15683734/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/it_lives_inside
• Metacritics:
• Available in: 720p, 1080p, 1080p
• Language: English, Hindi
• MPA Rating: PG-13
• Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
• Runtime: 99 min
• Writer: Bishal Dutta, Ashish Mehta
• Director: Bishal Dutta
• Cast: Megan Suri, Neeru Bajwa, Mohana Krishnan
• Keywords: supernatural, based on myths, legends or folklore, supernatural horror, indian american, horror,

5.3/10

It Lives Inside Storyline

Sam, an Indian-American teen, lives in an idyllic suburb with her conservative mother and her assimilated father. Sam’s cultural insecurities grow due to her estranged friend, Tamira, who mysteriously carries around an empty mason jar all the time. In a moment of anger, Sam breaks Tamira’s jar and unleashes an ancient Indian demonic force that kidnaps Tamira. Sam searches for Tamira, following the trail of a young man who performed a deadly ritual, until the demonic entity starts targeting her, murdering her boyfriend and shattering her reality with terrifying visions. Sam must band together with her parents and a sympathetic teacher to save Tamira and put an end to the terror of the demon.—sxsw

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It Lives Inside Movie Reviews

Close, but no sitar.

Indian-American teenager Samidha (Megan Suri) wants to fit in with her school friends, but her mother doesn’t want her to ignore her Indian roots. While struggling with her cultural identity, Samidha unwittingly unleashes Pishach, a demonic spirit that feeds on humans; in order to defeat the evil that she has released, she must embrace her Indian heritage with the help of her mother.

Strip away the Indian-ness from It Lives Inside and what you have is a rather formulaic story about a demon accidentally released to go on a killing spree. That’s not to say that the film isn’t enjoyable for what it is, but it feels like so many other movies that it’s unlikely to linger in the mind for very long.

The performances are commendable (Suri does a great job in the lead), and technically the film is polished, but the decision to cut away from the scary stuff as soon as it happens diminishes its effectiveness as a horror, as does the reluctance to show us the Pishach (which remains invisible for the bulk of the movie, but is actually pretty creepy when we finally get to see it), and the lack of gore (the kills are remarkably tame).

Decent, but could’ve been something special

The opening scenes were fiendish, giving a tantalizing glimpse of what the movie potentially had in store, which immediately excited me since I didn’t know anything at all about the movie. Surprisingly, it didn’t take long to dive into the gruesomeness, and the jump scares had a desired effect in the packed theater. The cultural background of the movie made it unique, Indian mythology was a departure from the usual Hollywood horror stuff.

I think the film’s great at creating a gripping atmosphere, but it falls slightly short of delivering on it. At its core, it felt like a breath of fresh air, but once it finds its groove, it started following a more formulaic plot, losing some of its originality. Some plot points felt glossed over.

Connection between characters wasn’t very strong, I didn’t really care for them as much. More focus on Tamira’s character at the start would’ve helped. The ending, while still fine, felt unsatisfactory to me. When i thought of my favorite part of the movie, it was undoubtedly the gripping opening scenes that didn’t shy away from the gore. I had hoped for a more intense, slasher-like turn that never materialized. The climax didn’t quite meet my expectations. It’s a worthwhile first viewing, but I doubt its replay value.

The film doesn’t suffer from major flaws but rather minor imperfections. Overall, I enjoyed it, but I believe it had untapped potential. Maybe that’s because it’s a directorial debut, but for a first effort, it’s still quite commendable.

Weak. And why PG-13???

I saw It Lives Inside early as part of Regal’s Mystery Movie Monday. I already had it on my watchlist so I was happy with the choice. The outcome though, not so much.

It takes a long while to get going, for the story to progress, and to see anything scary. Even when it does get going, it’s fairly underwhelming aside from one scene in the middle. After that scene, I felt mildly positive about the movie. But I found the third act and conclusion to be a huge letdown. And the movie overall feels ordinary within the horror genre.

Part of the reason the horror elements feel weak is the PG-13 rating. This movie should have absolutely been rated R. If they weren’t restricted, some of these scenes could have been shocking. They sometimes do a decent job of pushing the limits or creatively showing what they can. But it’s not enough and feels like it’s holding back.

There are some good elements here. And I can see some people liking this. But it just didn’t do it for me. It reminded me of a significantly restrained and much worse version of Smile. Watch that instead.

(1 viewing, early screening Mystery Movie Monday 9/4/2023)