Inside (À l'intérieur) Review

Movie: Inside (À l'intérieur)
By: Orlok666
Date: June 5, 2011

“Inside” (À l'intérieur) delivers

As suspenseful and shocking as it is gruesome, the French “Inside” sets a high standard for modern horror movies. And it’s definitely not a movie to watch when being pregnant.

In utero

Uterus. An unborn child. Vaguely hearing the voice of the mother and then… a crash. The baby getting a severe smack. Sarah and her husband are involved in a car crash. Opening her eyes the pregnant Sarah sees her husband didn’t survive the accident. Four months later at the day of Christmas eve we learn the baby survived as well and Sarah prepares herself to deliver the next day. Sarah is still depressed and finds it hard to cope with the death of her husband. While picking up her work as photographer her boss takes her home and agrees to pick her up the following day to bring her to the hospital.

Christmas eve

The doorbell rings. A stranger in front of the door asking if she might make a phone call. While refusing to let the woman in it appears that this stranger knows more about Sarah’s situation. With the woman still lurking around the house Sarah calls the police and makes pictures of the stranger, finding out that this person also appears on several of her previous photos. When the police comes by to check up there is a glimpse of the terror to come…

Intrusion

The stranger manages to get into the house, watching the unsuspecting Sarah. During the night she approaches Sarah and attacks her but Sarah manages to escape locking herself in the bathroom. With her attacker in the house trying to get to Sarah -and not letting anyone interfere with her goal- Sarah’s struggle for her and her unborn child’s life is not without it’s consequences.

Raising suspense

At first “Inside” might have the feeling of an arthouse drama with thriller elements, taking it’s time while slowly raising the suspense. But half an hour later the movie picks up quickly, really starting the violence and gore.

When the mysterious woman is at the door the threat is immediate: a pregnant woman alone in her house with a stranger outside who seems to know things and isn’t backing off easily. The suspense still lingers even while the woman seemed to leave her alone. As the doorbell rings and the lights of the police car are seen in the house the demanding sound of the bell makes you fear it might not be the police at the door.

The first scenes with the stranger house are very eerie and subtle. The viewer knows and sees more than the main character, knowing the other’s there in the same room observing Sarah, almost as a ghost. Bustillo and Maury are playing with the shadows, the warm almost suffocating yellow / orange light in the house and the notion someone’s there really pays off making the invading woman really a threat.

Relentless

After about half an hour as the movie takes a more violent turn in a scene that makes you cringe. From then on there’s no return, the violence shown in full and not holding back. While the movie remains the feel of threat this threat has now become physical and shown without remorse, maybe becoming a bit more over the top than expected for some considering the more suspenseful start.

Bustillo and Maury did well giving Alysson Paradis (playing Sarah) time to flesh out her character and the drama she’s been through. Of course it also helps that Sarah is quite frail as a pregnant woman ready to give birth and residing alone in the house. As said, Alyssin Paradis does well as Sarah, playing natural and making you feel she’s going through some rough times. And still giving everything she can to survive this attack and not letting her or her child fall in the hands of this invader. Béatrice Dalles as ‘La femme’ (The woman) is like a cat: lying in wait, observing, toying and when the time is right setting in for the kill. Dressed in a goth-like black dress and corset she maintains a fearsome predator that has her eye on her prey and will not let it slip away at all cost.

This movie is as nasty as it possibly gets. No jokes, no relief, only a vicious murderer standing between a woman and her unborn child. It’s relentless.