Body Swap Thriller It's What's Inside Invites Us to One Crazy Party

Body Swap Thriller It’s What’s Inside Invites Us to One Hell of a Party

Masks are important in horror films, but not just the ones you can pluck off a shelf and wear. Jason, Michael, and Ghostface all have their masks, of course, but a good horror film can also focus in on the masks we as regular humans wear at work, at home, or among friends. Who we really are versus who we hope we are is a source of phenomenal dramatic tension in any genre. Throw in some horror concepts and some scary atmosphere and you’ve got what’s (hopefully) a compelling concoction about the fear of facing your true self, and the fear of learning those closest to you aren’t who you thought they were.

It’s What’s Inside, the new horror/sci-fi/comedy from writer/director Greg Jardin, is certainly compelling, but it’s what the film does beyond the basic tension of challenging its characters on their own identities that makes its special. Fiendishly clever, beautifully designed, and driven by a great ensemble, it’s a genre-hopping romp that plays like the perfect movie for a Friday night in October, even as it also functions as a nerve-shredding exploration of the masks we wear.

Set almost entirely in a secluded mansion dominated by vagina-themed art projects (long story), It’s What’s Inside follows nine college friends who are reuniting for one last night together before their host, Reuben (Devon Terrell) gets married. Our entry point into this party, through struggling couple Shelby (Brittany O’Grady) and Cyrus (James Morosini), is one of immediate tension. They’re not getting along lately, they’re having intimacy issues, and their arguments tend to go around in circles because both of them are trying to be what they think will placate the other one, rather than their true selves.

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But even Cyrus and Shelby are doing their best to have a good time at the party, where they meet up with trust fund baby Dennis (Gavin Leatherwood), influencer Nikki (Alycia Debnam-Carey), artist Brooke (Reina Hardesty), and New Age enthusiast Maya (Nina Bloomgarden). It’s all very cordial and pleasant, until the late arrival, tech mogul Forbes (David W. Thompson), emerges on scene. Forbes, you see, has been working on a groundbreaking new machine that allows people to switch bodies, and it seems like the perfect thing for a little parlor game … provided no one gets hurt or anything.

The particulars of how the machine works and what side effects it might have are wisely brushed aside, because It’s What’s Inside isn’t a sci-fi film about the tech. This is a character-driven thriller about what happens when people who’ve known each other for years get to walk around in each other’s skin, and as the high-concept hook of the whole thing kicks in, Jardin feels marvelously in control of his creation. Using the natural tension between Shelby and Cyrus as a kind of dramatic kindling for a greater fire, he throws his characters into the deep end of a night full of luxurious surroundings, snatches of conversation, and of course, drugs and booze, then throws this weird machine into the mix. It’s a recipe for an entertaining film, yes, but it’s also a chance to loosen these characters up and get them to express how they really feel about each other, whether that means rekindling old flames, churning up Shelby’s jealousy over Nikki, or playing with old tensions left over from Forbes’ dramatic exit from their lives years earlier.

As the body swapping gets underway, and the characters begin their game of trying to guess who’s who, Jardin wisely doesn’t keep the audience in the dark about what’s going on, and it’s here that the film’s visual flair really kicks into overdrive. Using colors reminiscent of Creepshow to light the film in a range of reds and blues, Jardin lets the audience know what the characters don’t, producing revelatory moment after revelatory moment so we can keep track of the games each character is playing within the larger guessing game. The director also keeps what could be a somewhat dry series of conversations between masked friends wearing each others bodies feeling dynamic and thrilling through both dizzying, kinetic camerawork and a truly witty script.

That wit, of course, extends to the characterization offered by the actors, who each tap into a series of personality quirks, from Maya’s spaced-out tendencies to Cyrus’ seeming inability to finish a sentence, to make not only their characters shine, but everyone else’s. They have to play each other, after all, and they do it so smoothly that they feel like a troupe who’s been rehearsing and slipping back into the same show for years, an It’s What’s Inside road show. It’s a string of remarkable performances, particularly from O’Grady and Debnam-Carey, whose final dance between who they really are and whose body they’re wearing forms the film’s white-hot dramatic core.

All of this presents a dizzying collection of ingredients that Jardin then has to marshal into a single, cohesive whole while never getting too lost in the woods of a nine-piece ensemble story. It works more often than not, and when it works it really works, but the film is not without its stumbles, particularly toward the end, when the elegance of the setup falls away and characters just sort of start hand-holding the audience, explaining who’s who and what they want. It’s something that feels at least somewhat like a necessity, but it also slows the film down when it should be speeding up. A small bump in the road to be sure, but a noticeable one.

Even with that bump in mind, though, It’s What’s Inside emerges as one of the most entertaining new genre films of the 2024 Halloween season, a film that successfully studies the ways in which we twist ourselves depending on who we’re with, then plays it all for a combination of laughs and existential terror. It’s a film about masks, yes, but also about mining the insecurities, fears, and longing of others to get to the truth of who you really are, then realizing you might not like the results. It’s a smart, sexy, riotous assault on the senses, and it deserves a spot on your Halloween watchlist.

It’s What’s Inside premieres Oct. 4 on Netflix.

Director: Greg Jardin
Writer: Greg Jardin
Stars: Brittany O’Grady, James Morosini, Gavin Leatherwood, Nina Bloomgarden, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Reina Hardesty, Devon Terrell, David W. Thompson, Madison Davenport
Release date: Oct. 4, Netflix

Body Swap Thriller It’s What’s Inside Invites Us to One Hell of a Party