It Lives Inside (Mini-Review)

It Lives Inside is a horror movie. Sam is a girl stuck between two worlds. On one hand she is an Indian with all the rich history and traditions that entails. On the other hand she just wants to fit in with the rest of her American classmates. Due to her choosing to fit in over everything else, she becomes distant with Tamira, her once best friend. It also leaves her defenseless when an entity takes Tamira and begins tormenting Sam. It Lives Inside was released in 2023. It was directed by Bishal Dutta. It stars Megan Suri, Neeru Bajwa, and Mohana Krishnan.

There is no mid or post credits scenes in this movie.

I had a...different experience than most people who saw this movie. For some reason I couldn't read the subtitles due to the screen cutting off near the very top of the subtitles. To me this helped remind me that there was a fundamental difference between me and the intended audience of the movie. While I could relate to the movie, I'm not a second generation immigrant. The only culture I've known and been told I have to be a part of is American (aka a citizen of the United States of America). I don't know what it's like to be stuck between two worlds like Sam is.

When I see a movie like this, I people watch extra hard. Some big budget Hollywood movies that are marketed as being for, say, black people have mainly white people in the audience. Which makes it clear the movie is for white people trying to be good people. I was the only white person in the nearly empty theater. There was a family and couple that spoke Hindi (the latter I am assuming). So the audience that the film is marketed towards is actually seeing the movie. That's very good.

The creature design is terrifying. You know from the first moment you see it that it isn't from the mortal plane. That it will not pity you as that emotion is something it is unaware of. I loved each time it was onscreen even though it was scary. Something about the pure evil of it, if that is really the right way to describe it, was mesmerizing.

One important subplot was how Sam pushed Tamira away so she could fully embrace American culture. She did this so she wouldn't be alone. Yet even though this subplot was important, it is never followed up in the ending. We don't see how the events of the movie affected Sam's schoolmates' opinion of her. By embracing her Indian culture, were her fellow students acting as if they never liked her? Did some accept her while others didn't?

I would recommend It Lives Inside to those looking for a good creature feature. I would also recommend It Lives Inside to horror fans.