It Lives Inside: Movie Review

Cast: Megan Suri, Mohana Krihnan, Siddhartha Minhas

Director: Bishal Dutta

Proffering a different face to horror in the form of the American Hindi experience, director Bishal Dutta's tautly told tale of demonic intervention is a solid enough and atmospheric outing that veers close to doing something different in the genre, but ultimately holds back.

Suri is Samidha, a teenager who's beginning to reject her heritage and family as she tries to acclimatise to high school life. Ostracising herself from her former best friend Tamira, Samidha finds herself inextricably drawn back into her world when Tamira claims there's a demon in a jar.

In a scene reminiscent of Carrie's cruelty, Samidha mocks her best friend, smashes the jar and inadvertently unleashes the Pishach demon, which latches onto her....

There's a coming of age tale here, wrapped in the trappings of a culture clash, and while Dutta keeps proceedings tight, there are moments when it feels like the film's holding back or budgetary constraints have stopped it upping some of the more disturbing elements for the finale.

As a result, some of the scares feel rote and very familiar, even if they are well enough presented on screen.

It Lives Inside may start off by being a commentary on what it is like as an outsider and the acclimatisation into American culture, but ultimately, it ends up falling into the usual horror tropes albeit one with a solid and watchable enough lead.

There's enough tension where there needs to be in It Lives Inside and clearly the allegory of the American journey and the internalised culture clash is there for all and sundry to see, but while the film delivers enough jolts and provides a different take on the usual coming-of-age fare glimpsed within the genre, there's a distinct feeling that outside of a sensationally well-crafted finale, the film could have taken a few more risks to end up more memorable and less perfunctory.