It Lives Inside movie storyline. Sam, an Indian-American teen, lives in an idyllic suburb with her conservative mother and her assimilated father. Sam’s cultural insecurities grow due to her estranged friend, Tamira, who mysteriously carries around an empty mason jar all the time.
In a moment of anger, Sam breaks Tamira’s jar and unleashes an ancient Indian demonic force that kidnaps Tamira. Sam searches for Tamira, following the trail of a young man who performed a deadly ritual, until the demonic entity starts targeting her, murdering her boyfriend and shattering her reality with terrifying visions. Sam must band together with her parents and a sympathetic teacher to save Tamira and put an end to the terror of the demon.
It Lives Inside is a 2023 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Bishal Dutta and starring Megan Suri. The film debuted at the 2023 South by Southwest film festival, and is set for release on September 22, 2023 by Neon.
On October 14, 2021, Neon and QC Entertainment announced a partnership to produce a then-untitled debut feature from Dutta, starring Megan Suri, Neeru Bajwa, Vik Sahay and Betty Gabriel. Principal photography started the same day in Vancouver.
Dutta took inspiration for the film from his own childhood experience of being born in India prior to moving to North America. The story is influenced by Indian demonic mythology as well as a personal story from Dutta’s grandfather.[4] Dutta explained:
“After I moved to North America from India at the age of four, a lot of my social education came from watching American horror films. I always wondered, what were families like mine doing while Bruce the shark tore through Amity’s waters, while Freddy Krueger slashed teenagers in the dreamscape, and while Jack Torrance chased his son through the maze-like halls of the Overlook? As it developed, It Lives Inside formed its own dual identity much like mine. On one hand, it is a love letter to the community and culture that raised me while on the other, it is a visceral experience that is designed to the same raw terror in its viewers that my favorite horror films instilled in me.”
Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting gave the film a score of 3.5/5, writing, “Dutta uses a familiar framework of teen horror as an accessible introduction to underexplored mythology exacerbated by a cultural divide and adolescence. While Dutta wears his influences on his sleeves, the gnarly new demon and the complexities of its characters mark this director as one to watch.”
Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com was more critical, writing, “While I appreciate the effort here and the quest for representation involving a culture that is not often seen in American horror, the execution misfires in every direction, leading to one of the most frustrating films I saw at SXSW this year. I kept actively trying to like It Lives Inside. It kept pushing me out.”
It Lives Inside (2023)
Directed by: Bishal Dutta
Starring: Megan Suri, Neeru Bajwa, Mohana Krishnan, Vik Sahay, Gage Marsh, Beatrice Kitsos, Betty Gabriel, Paige Shaw, Sangeeta Wylie, Siddhartha Minhas, Saisha Muni
Screenplay by: Bishal Dutta
Production Design by: Tyler Bishop Harron
Cinematography by: Matthew Lynn
Film Editing by: Jack Price
Costume Design by: Odessa Bennett
Set Decoration by: Tamara Gauthier
Music by: Wesley Hughes
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for terror, violent content, bloody images, brief strong language and teen drug use.
Distributed by: Neon
Release Date: September 22, 2023 (United States)
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