David Farnor | On 26, Oct 2024

Director: Greg Jardin
Cast: Brittany O’Grady, James Morosini, Gavin Leatherwood, Nina Bloomgarden, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Reina Hardesty, Devon Terrell, David W Thompson, Madison Davenport
Certificate: 15

What if you could swap bodies with someone? Would you do it? Would you tell anyone else? And would you want to swap back? All those questions and more are spinning round the heart of It’s What’s Inside, Greg Jardin’s inventive comedy horror.

The film takes place just before the wedding of Reuben (Devon Terrell), who decides to celebrate beforehand by holding a high school reunion. And so his family home is filled with old friends, flames and rivals. There’s Shelby (Brittany O’Grady), who’s dating Cyrus (James Morosini). There’s Nikki (Alycia Debnam-Carey), an influencer Cyrus used to have a thing for. There’s Dennis (Gavin Leatherwood), who used to date Nikki, the progressive, far-out Maya (Nina Bloomgarden), who keeps catching the eye of Reuben, and the more cynical Brooke (Reina Hardesty). The final member of the group? Forbes (David W Thompson), the eccentric outsider who hasn’t been seen since he was expelled for bringing his sister to a party.

Forbes, they soon learn, is a Silicon Valley type and has a hush-hush new invention with him: a suitcase containing a device that allows people to swap bodies. He proposes a game: a Werewolf/Mafia-style challenge of working out who’s in whose body, with a photo stuck to each person once they’ve been identified. What ensues is a dizzying string of bluffs, double-bluffs and secret tells, which escalates into darker territory the longer it goes on.

The cast are excellent, able to pivot from one personality to another in the blink of an eye, which makes for a tantalisingly twisting game of Guess Who – and guess what each of them are up to. The characters themselves are just distinct enough to tell apart, but share a common thread of anxiety and insecurity, rooted in the challenge of not only seeing people for who they are but valuing them and valuing yourself as well. The closest we get to two leads are Shelby and Cyrus, a couple who are disconnected from each other in their shared bubble of isolation. She’s busy comparing herself to others, while he’s daydreaming of others, both of them doom-scrolling to distract themselves from their actual problems in front of them.

Greg Jardin’s witty script drills into the superficial complexities – and complex superficialities – of Gen Z with a playful immediacy that’s matched by his hyperactive visuals. From close-ups and split-screens to flashes of red-light that show us who’s really under the surface, it’s a neon sensory overload crammed into a taut 90 minutes. Beneath the sinister humour, a lingering tension builds – not because we lose track of who’s who, but because we wonder who’s losing track of themselves. A bold feature directorial debut from an attention-grabbing storyteller, this is a visceral ride with a darkly comic pay-off.

Add to Watchlist