Written by: Greg Jardin
Starring: Brittany O’Grady, James Morosini, Gavin Leatherwood, Nina Bloomgarden
Rating: [4/5]
To practice empathy, it’s often said to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. A belief that envisioning the way someone lives in this world would allow for a better understanding of why they operate in the way they do. An admirable saying that carries plenty of truth. In It’s What’s Inside, we get the opportunity to watch characters not only walk in someone else’s shoes but literally enter their bodies as a fun party game erupts into complete chaos.
A group of friends who all initially met in college gather around before Reuben’s (Devon Terrell) wedding. During the party, one of the attendees, Forbes (David Thompson), proposes they play a game with this strange device he brought with him. This game hooks everyone up and swaps the consciousness of each person and places it into a different body, allowing for a game to guess who’s in whose body. However, as they continue to scramble and swap, certain individuals begin to take advantage of what this allows them.
Everyone loves a good body swap in the way it allows someone to experience a different body than the one they have inhabited their entire lives. It naturally makes for some comedy in the discovery of what this allows them, but It’s What’s Inside presents the idea of this happening around a group of attractive 20-year-olds, who evidently have some sexual history with each other. This opens the door for switches to transpire and individuals to take advantage of the secrecy that comes with being in someone else’s body.
We see this present an opportunity for individuals to hook up who perhaps could not under their regular circumstances. Things get very messy, and it provides all of the entertainment one could possibly want. As much as we have a lead, Shelby (Brittany O’Grady) steps in and expresses her concerns of continuing to play this game. She understood after the first swap of the dangers involved and how things can get out of hand. Shelby has a point, especially when we learn that when swapped and the person within your body dies, you can no longer return to it. A reveal that makes complete sense but massively raises the stakes of this story in a way that allows the mayhem that transpires in the second and third acts to be all the more gripping.
With these individuals having known each other for years, they not only may harbor some sexual tension for one another but also feelings of jealousy and mistrust that also emerge once these swaps occur. Having the opportunity to control the body of someone whose life you always wanted sure presents quite the interesting proposition. Think of the possibilities of what can get accomplished, which once again highlights the utter messiness of this story and how the darkest impulses of these individuals emerge when controlling someone else’s body. A sudden bravery arises within them as they no longer have the shackles of their body and can hopefully explain away any undesirable action they commit.
Naturally, this film has some challenges to overcome, which mostly lie in ensuring audiences don’t feel completely lost in following who inhabits which body. Already operating with a decently sized ensemble, the key to keeping tabs lied mostly in the names. Having those down allows for a more seamless viewing experience, but the film does a decent job at helping visualize this embodiment as well through some clever camera and lighting work. However, director Greg Jardin also intentionally does not immediately enlighten the audience of who inhabits specific bodies for reasons that make narrative sense and for our amusement. It makes certain reveals all the more intriguing as character motivations become apparent at opportune moments.
Employing a cast with the most prominent actor being a relative newcomer in feature film, Brittany O’Grady, this production highlighted actors who had the opportunity to shine. None of them necessarily stand out but each of them does well considering they not only have to portray their character but also the other personalities who take over their bodies. It gives them all multiple roles to play with the challenge of at least maintaining some continuity of the consciousness of each character as they move into different bodies.
A complete surprise that wildly entertains, It’s What’s Inside feels like a film waiting for the masses to pick it up and become a cult classic. Receiving no theatrical release and just dropped on Netflix, this film only got on my radar because I’m deeply embedded in the film space and had heard about it. This film deserves a larger audience as it brings such a vividly fun twist on the famous body-swap storytelling trope seen in various movies. Greg Jardin, in his first film, knocks it out of the park and impresses in piecing together this original idea.
Films with Josh 
