‘It Lives Inside’ Movie Review [Fantasia 2023]: A Formulaic Demon Haunt
Photo from Fantasia International Film Festival
From Jeff Nelson
Cultural and religious demons are a staple of the horror genre, although they typically pull from the roots of Christianity. Writer/director Bishal Dutta and co-writer Ashish Mehta’s It Lives Inside introduces Indian demonology to the silver screen, combining new and old rules that define the protagonist’s methods for survival.
Samidha (Megan Suri) is an Indian-American teenager who just wants to fit in with the other kids at her high school. However, the customs between her home and school clash in ways that force her to discover who she really is between the two. Meanwhile, her best friend, Tamira (Mohana Krishnan) doesn’t find the same success in blending in, unintentionally releasing a trapped demon that sustains itself on loneliness.
It Lives Inside has a familiar supernatural horror premise, as adolescents try to fight off an ancient evil. However, Dutta and Mehta’s screenplay pits an Indian-American coming-of-age story at its core, transforming the alienation and isolation of teenage years into something much more sinister. Samidha’s connections with Tamira and her parents are the heart of the film, although they’re far too undeverloped to earn the emotional weight they’re intended to pull.
There isn’t much of anything that sets this demon apart from any other horror film in the sub-genre, aside from its name and origins. Unfortunately, the scares fall flat, save for a few eerie moments that emphasize the greatest terrors that exist in the periphery. Otherwise, it’s simply moving through the motions, leaving any semblance of fear in the dust.
When the demon makes itself known, it takes an unusual turn from the appearance of your typical horror movie entity. It Lives Inside’s antagonist looks strikingly close to the monsters from 2005’s horror comedy Feast. Such creatures work for such a B-movie, but it’s jarring in this world created by Dutta that is far less terrifying than its existence in the shadows.
I really wanted to love It Lives Inside, but it simply doesn’t have much to offer, aside from its refreshing cultural lens. However, the film built around it isn’t very frightening, thrilling, or compelling. It Lives Inside lacks the scares to compensate for its inability to step out from the shadow of the stereotypical demonic horror film.
Rating: 2/5
It Lives Inside played Fantasia 2023 on August 7, 2023. It hits theaters on September 22, 2023.
