Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: IT LIVES INSIDE [SXSW 2023 - Austin, Texas]
The inference of cultural horror based in mythology is not a new concept but the interrelation with modern thinking and a globalization of youth makes it a little more dynamic. It also tends to explore the idea of connection and disconnect especially with different cultures in foreign countries. "It Lives Inside"[Midnighters/World Premiere] follows Sam (Megan Suri), a teenager just trying to fit in. She has alienated her previous best friend Tamira who seems to be dealing with some demon of her own, except that is an actual demon. The build using a house, and the rules that motivate said haunting of sorts, is both logical and textured and yet is not overwhelming eye opening. Suri gets the push and pull of this young woman who is stuck between two worlds, wanting to be the pretty girl at school but losing connection to her heritage per se to the upset of her mother (Neera Bajwa). This actually is the relationship that develops that is the most crucial but also the most well played without being overdramatic. The viewer can sense the power of the mother, even when a certain element plays to a dark connotation of rejection.
One reality skewing sequence in the dining room of a house quite dynamically shows this. Director Bishal Dutta is able to create a sense of dread also especially in two scenes with Betty Gabriel as Sam's teacher Joyce inside a school and with Gage Marsh as Ross, both of which are brutal and chilling in how the demon approaches in its own specific way of defending (or offending) itself as the case may be. The eventual reveal and face off of sorts is done with subtelty and a sense of fate though the ultimate weight is not quite pierced as effectively as it could have been. The sense of sacrifice is palpable but not crushing which in this instance would have worked better considering the fate that is inevitable in the concept. "It Lives Inside" is as much existential as it is internal though the physicalization, not of the creature per se but of its lair could have used more flushing out. The rules are fairly succinct and the repercussions swift but the reality that it occupies has some holes in its progression. That said, "It Lives Inside" delivers on its promise in many ways of a girl terrorized by fear but finding strength in her inevitability. B
By Tim Wassberg
