‘It Lives Inside,’ Which is to Say: A Relentless Indian Demon Comes to High School

September 21, 2023

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

TFW It lives inside… (CREDIT: NEON/Screenshot)

Starring: Megan Suri, Neeru Bajwa, Mohana Krishnan, Vik Sahay, Betty Gabriel, Gage Marsh, Beatrice Kitsos

Director: Bishal Dutta

Running Time: 99 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Demonic Lacerations

Release Date: September 22, 2023 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Samidha (Megan Suri) has been losing touch with her Indian heritage, but it hasn’t been losing touch with her. She’s drifted apart from her friend Tamira (Mohana Krishnan), who seems to have completely lost touch with reality. While holding tightly to a jar containing something foreboding, she desperately turns to Sam for help, while insisting that the spirits their family told them about when they were kids are actually real. Then she inexplicably disappears, leaving Sam to be beset by the same demon, known as a Pishach. It looks like she’s doomed to repeat the same fate as Tamira. But there’s some hope, as she has that example to learn from, and she can also seek support from a trusted teacher (Betty Gabriel), as well as her parents (Neeru Bajwa and Vik Sahay), if she can manage not to be completely estranged from them.

What Made an Impression?: Coming-of-Age Metaphor: Don’t we all feel like we’re being pursued by an immortal demon during our teenage years? Maybe not everyone would describe that transitional period with that precise description, but there’s a reason why this stage of life is so perennially ripe for metaphor. There had yet to be a mainstream American film featuring Hindu demons to get that point across (at least not that I’m aware of), so writer/director Bishal Dutta went ahead and corrected that little oversight. It was a fresh call, and I’m sure I’m not the only horror fan who will appreciate the invigoration.

Good Grub: Ultimately, It Lives Inside contends that the best way to keep a Pishach at bay is a strongly bonded community, particularly one that regularly makes time for actually sitting down for dinner. Throughout the film, Sam’s mom Poorna constantly chastises her for not showing up on the days when they gather with friends and family to celebrate their culture. It’s a straightforward, unsurprising espousal of values, but it definitely hits its target. And it’s all underscored by a message that a family that eats together will survive together. You can practically see the demon-fighting powers during the culinary close-ups. Overall, It Lives Inside keeps its ambitions tight and focused, as it pulls off its simple, small-scale goals.

It Lives Inside is Recommended If You Like: Learning how to be a better child to your parent, or a better parent to your child

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Pishachs

Movie Review: The ‘Child’s Play’ Remake is Sharp with the Satire but Oversatured in Gore

June 20, 2019

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CREDIT: Eric Milner/Orion Pictures

Starring: Gabriel Bateman, Mark Hamill, Aubrey Plaza, Bryan Tyree Henry, Tim Matheson, Marlon Kazadi, Beatrice Kitsos, Ty Consiglio, David Lewis, Carlease Burke

Director: Lars Klevberg

Running Time: 90 Minutes

Rating: R for Prime Bloody Cuts of Human Meat

Release Date: June 21, 2019

The original 1988 Child’s Play was a sneaky little B-horror pic that snuck in some pointed satire about the crass commercialism of marketing aimed at children by asking the question: if the soul of a serial killer were transferred to a toy doll, would all the adults be too distracted to notice? The remake takes its aim at the paranoia surrounding artificial intelligence. This is oft-explored territory, so the horrors of the next-gen Chucky doll (voiced with easy panache by Mark Hamill) are not particularly unique. But the satire is built around a salient, timely concern: what if all of our smart Internet-connected devices suddenly became weaponized against us? The new Chucky is part of the “Buddi” line assembled by Kaslin Industries, an Amazon-esque tech monolith that promises consumers a domestic utopia with its thorough suite of products, with Tim Matheson as the wise, old, just-creepy-enough face of the company.

While the ideas of nu-Child’s Play are impressively on target, its plot machinations are a bit too silly and Grand Guignol for their own good. Original flavor CP worked on a visceral level because while Chucky was nearly impossible to kill, he wasn’t impossible to subdue. But upgraded Chucky is far more omnipotent, as he can basically become telepathic and telekinetic with the right Bluetooth signal. Thus, it is never in doubt that he is going to kill someone, which leads to the hyper-violent stakes being raised in ways that call to mind Saw and Final Destination much more than I expected. Occasionally, there’s a really devastating sick visual joke to lighten up the gore, but most audiences can expect their bloodlust to be satisfied many times over. Ultimately, Chucky is defeated less because of any weakness and more just because the movie is about to end.

Also in the “been there, done that” category is Chucky’s motivation: the old “if I can’t be your friend, then nobody can.” Frankly, I think that Chucky has more on his mind than just what some random kid thinks of him. But that is what his programming demands once he meets young Andy (Gabriel Bateman) and automatically “imprints” on him. It suggests a worst-case scenario of how it would go if the most smartphone-obsessed among us had their feelings reciprocated. Smart A.I. can be dumb, but while this Child’s Play is satisfyingly diverting, it doesn’t convince me that our devices are that psychotic.

Child’s Play is Recommended If You Like: Smart device paranoia

Grade: 3 out of 5 Stabby Stabbies