Inside (2023)

May 24, 2024 2:03 PM

Nemo (Willem Dafoe), a high-end art thief, is trapped in a New York penthouse after his heist doesn't go as planned. Locked inside with nothing but priceless works of art, he must use all his cunning and ingenuity to survive. [Trailer]

Rotten Tomatoes: 62% critics / 40% audience ("Inside might be a one-note drama that verges on an endurance test, but it does have Willem Dafoe going for it, which is nice.")

Metacritic: 53 critics / 4.9 audience

Reviews ran the gamut:

Screen Daily: The feature debut from Vasilis Katsoupis, Inside is set up as a psychological thriller/escape movie, but evolves into something rather more intriguing: a philosophical interrogation of the value of art to a dying man. Does a painting still sustain the soul when you have no food to sustain the body? Is simply staying alive the ultimate creative act?

SF Chronicle: Watching “Inside” is like being stuck inside a house, unable to escape. No, it’s worse than that. It’s like being stuck inside a house, unable to escape, and Willem Dafoe is there with you. And not Willem Dafoe the movie star, but a version that eats dog food and defecates in the corner. He’s been there for a while, too, because that pile — the one in the corner that he keeps contributing to — is getting bigger. That pile can be seen as a metaphor for the movie itself.

Available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video, or to buy/rent in a few other places

posted by Rhaomi (5 comments total)

Strangely, this is actually the second artsy film about a white guy stuck inside an apartment slowly going mad called "Inside" released in the last three years.

Personally, it struck me as a more refined take on the fantastically horrifying middle third of Mexican film El Incidente, specifically the whole "descent into ritualistic madness when trapped indefinitely in one place" thing.
posted by Rhaomi at 2:04 PM on May 24

IMO this film is saved by Willem Dafoe. I'm not sure another actor would have made this as watchable or as engaging.
posted by Ashwagandha at 2:35 PM on May 24 [2 favorites]

And I guess, FWIW, I didn't find the film that much of an endurance test but I may not be altogether a "normal" audience.
posted by Ashwagandha at 2:36 PM on May 24

I think part of what made it grueling was it coming out while I still had very fresh memories of being isolated in my condo because I live in a place where they regarded masking a personal affront to freedom.
posted by miss-lapin at 5:56 PM on May 24

It's been a while since I saw this, but I remember it being pure psychological torture. It was definitely elevated by me having no idea what to expect going in.
posted by wierdo at 8:33 AM on May 26