Horror movies have long inserted religious themes. The theology usually involves Christianity, and the faithful are rarely presented in a favorable light. Piper Laurie’s character in Carrie or the Puritan family in The Witch immediately come to mind. It Lives Inside weaves Hinduism into its narrative but from a decidedly positive perspective.
Our tale concerns an Indian-American teen named Samidha (Megan Suri), who prefers to go by “Sam.” She is not really into attending an upcoming Durga Puja celebration with her family. The holiday pays homage to the Hindu goddess Durga’s victory over the shape-shifting demon Mahishasura. She’d much rather hang out with the cool kids at school. She has a crush on a white student named Russ (Gage Marsh).
Sam was once close with a fellow classmate named Tamira (Mohana Krishnan), who is also Indian-American like her. However, Tamira is now acting weird and carrying a jar filled with mysterious black smoke. It turns out there is a demonic spirit in the container. It’s let out at one point and begins terrorizing various people in Sam’s life.
The production has some spooky scenes and interesting imagery. I was reminded of The Ring and The Babadook among others. But it’s also a heavy-handed morality play. Samidha is growing increasingly disconnected from her East Indian heritage, which has sinister consequences. Sam’s mother, Poorna (Neeru Bajwa), disapproves of her daughter’s behavior. Her sanctimony is the voice of the reason.
It Lives Inside is a metaphor for embracing your cultural identity. That’s unique, and it gives the account a distinct point of view. However, the story’s main thrust is this evil entity tormenting Sam. Unfortunately, director Bishal Dutta borrows heavily from other better films. As such, the developments are exceptionally derivative, and the moralizing wasn’t enough to elevate the thoroughly generic story.
09-26-23
One Response
I gave it 3 ⭐️. It was eery and pretty spooky at times. I liked it.