Sundance 2024: ‘It’s What’s Inside’ is a Totally Fresh Genre Invention

Sundance 2024: ‘It’s What’s Inside’ is a Totally Fresh Genre Invention

by Alex Billington
January 20, 2024

THE talk of the town at this year’s festival is the Midnight horror film It’s What’s Inside. I was lucky to attend the world premiere of this indie horror film at a screening starting at 11PM Friday night at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and it blew the roof off of the theater. Everyone loved it. No one there had any idea what they were about to see. It was shot in secret, everything about it was kept a secret, no one will want to tell you the secret. Which makes it kind of hard to talk about… I can vaguely talk around the idea of it and why I love it, without revealing any of what actually happens in it. Even if you aren’t someone who cares that much about spoilers, trust me/us/everyone on this – you’ll want to see it without knowing anything about “what’s inside of it” until the lights go down and the film begins. It’s a thrilling, hilarious, clever, raucous, ingenious sci-fi horror comedy from filmmaker Greg Jardin. Wait until you find out what’s in the suitcase.

The basic spoiler-free premise is similar to something like Bodies Bodies Bodies, another fresh new horror comedy. Though as someone who isn’t the biggest fan of that film, I can say that It’s What’s Inside is really what I wanted out of Bodies Bodies Bodies. A group of old high school friends get together for a small party at a mansion the night before one of these friend’s wedding. There is some washy, leftover tension between them, especially since they haven’t all seen each other in years, and they have a common “incident” in the past that connects them (the usual horror setup). Once they get together, the final party guest named Forbes shows up last minute carrying a strange suitcase and a weird smile. Once he cracks open that suitcase and reveals what he’s been working on, he invites everyone there to play a “fun” game. And that’s when things get really wild. The biggest tease I can conjure up: it’s like Inception meets Primer meets Talk to Me, along with Bodies Bodies Bodies and a few other films I can’t mention because they’ll give it away. That’s not to say it isn’t fresh and original and entirely unique, just that it has similar brilliant genre vibes as all of these.

Written & directed by Greg Jardin, It’s What’s Inside is a completely new horror genre twist I’ve never seen before. Clever in its concept & gimmick (not a bad thing), fresh in its filmmaking & style, and captivating in its “what’s going to happen next?!” narrative. You will want to rewatch it again right away to understand all the tricks and crossovers and elements that are working within the narrative. It’s a remarkably innovative new take on the body swap sub-genre. My initial feeling is – this is going to be a huge breakout hit. It has the franchise potential of Saw, while also being as minimal as the first Saw (another Sundance premiere). I have no notes. It’s perfect in every sense, it tackles everything flawlessly in the screenplay, and doesn’t try to be any bigger than it needs to be. Even if you can guess and figure out what’s going to happen, that doesn’t take away from the thrill of what happens, and the final reveal. And much like Primer (another Sundance premiere), you’re left wondering if there’s even more going on that you didn’t pick up on in the first viewing. Who else is involved? What else could be going on? What else can they do with this device in the suitcase?

The whole cast of It’s What’s Inside is great and they’re a very important part of this movie’s intricacy and making sure it works right. They aren’t playing one character and that’s it – there’s much more going on and that’s a huge challenge. The focus is on characters played by Madison Davenport and James Morosini, though everyone involved is noteworthy. I loved this film and have been raving about it and talking about it with everyone at Sundance since the premiere. It’s not even right to call it an “instant cult classic” because I think it has massive breakout potential to go beyond just being a “cult classic” to become a full-on horror genre revelation. This is exactly what I hope to encounter at film festivals – something so new and exciting and awesome that you can’t stop thinking about, and can’t stop telling everyone they need to see it, and can’t stop waiting for the chance to watch it again and figure out more of the tricks hidden within. And if this is just a tease at the ultimate potential of director Greg Jardin, I’m already ready to see what he’ll create next.

Alex’s Sundance 2024 Rating: 10 out of 10
Follow Alex on Twitter – @firstshowing / Or Letterboxd – @firstshowing

Find more posts: Review, Sundance 24