Frightfest 2023: ‘It Lives Inside’ Review
Stars: Megan Suri, Neeru Bajwa, Mohana Krishnan, Betty Gabriel | Written by Bishal Dutta, Ashish Mehta | Directed by Bishal Dutta
Indian-American Samidha is at that point where her culture and hanging out as a normal teenager collide. She has supportive parents and a teacher ally, and she’s interested in a boy named Russ. But none of this matters when her estranged friend Tamira breaks a jar she claims houses an ancient demon. When the evil force kidnaps Tamira and starts targeting her friends and family, Samidha must not only acknowledge her culture but that some of its legends are true…
Horror has long been a mirror on society – faith, religion, morality, sexuality, you name it horror has most likely touched upon it in some way; horror has also given us a look into other cultures, other countries and other lifestyles. Yet somehow It Lives Inside has still managed to tap into the unknown with not only its look at the Hindi faith and its “monsters” but also a look into the immigrant experience – the balance between assimilating yourself into the culture into which you live in and keeping true to your faith and beliefs.
In this case, however, that immigrant experience is further complicated by that most cliched of cinematic tropes – teenage angst. Here we have a protagonist who is not only looking to fit in with the girls at school but is denying who she is to do so. And of course, this all comes back to bite her in the proverbial arse when she unleashes the demon. Something that is 100% the consequence of her wish to deny her Hindi heritage and her long-standing friendship with the only other girl in her school with the same cultural background!
Based on legitimate Hindi myth, the demon Samidha unleashes is the Pisach, a flesh-eating demon that has often been referred to as the very manifestation of evil. Sadly It Lives Inside aims for the teenage crowd so we never really see the demon live up to its flesh-eating reputation, something that the film could’ve benefited from immensely. We do see the demon, eventually, as Samidha battles it face to face to save her former friend and the rest of the kids in her school – a demon that looked very familiar, echoing the appearance of Pumpkinhead, one of the monsters from Tales From the Darkside and a myriad of other big toothed grotesqueries from other genre films.
Unfortunately, It Lives Inside falls apart in the conclusion of its story as the filmmakers chose to LITERALLY live up to the title of the film and thus belie the teenage-angst-ridden struggles of Samidha in favour of more supernatural ones… and seats things up for a possible sequel. It’s a minor misstep for a film that feels like it belongs among the pantheon of supernatural teen horror like It Follows – a film that It Lives Inside shares a lot in common.
***½ 3.5/5
It Lives Inside screened as part of this year’s Frightfest London and will be in UK Cinemas from 22nd September.
