A high-end art thief becomes trapped inside a luxury, high-tech penthouse in New York's Times Square after his heist doesn't go as planned. Locked inside with nothing but priceless works of art, he must use all his cunning and invention to survive.
Vasilis Katsoupis’s Inside is a claustrophobic concept film that tests the central character and audience resiliency as the film moves into more abstract territory. Katsoupis’s film possesses a steady rhythm that he maintains for better or worse throughout the film’s runtime. It’s the type of film that’s more than happy to keep things vague and open to interpretation which allows for multiple interpretations of what we are seeing onscreen and whether it’s entirely literal and something more philosophical. As such, Inside is destined to frustrate a large swath of movie goers who might have expected something a bit more immediate and intense. Willem Dafoe is tasked with carrying the film armed with a script that’s light on characterization instead choosing to focus almost exclusively on the character’s survival response. Dafoe weather worn face and gaunt frame works well for the roles especially as the story moves into its latter stages. It’s a multifaceted performance that’s rather nuanced and measured which is impressive for multiple reasons especially since he’s alone for the better part of the film. His performance echoes other turns like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, Ryan Reynolds in Buried or James Franco in 127 Hours which test the actors and audience’s endurance.
C+
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