‘Inside’ is a psychological thriller that follows Nemo, an art thief who becomes trapped in a New York penthouse he had tried to rob. Cut off from the outside world, Nemo has to use his cunning to survive the illustrious trap.
After a successful break-in and lifting a few paintings, Nemo triggers an alarm and is locked in a luxury penthouse. Abandoned by his accomplice and surrounded by an array of extravagant artworks, Nemo struggles to get by as the thermostat fluctuates between the extremes, he slowly runs out of fresh water and begins to lose grip on his sanity.
To keep himself occupied, Nemo watches the CCTV rigged to the TV in the penthouse, and he follows the daily routine of a custodian throughout the building. At the same time, in trying to figure a way out, Nemo constructs an enormous scaffold in trying to reach a skylight to escape the penthouse. Making use of the furniture and artwork around him, Nemo tries to disassemble the frame for the skylight.
Suffering injuries and running out of food, Nemo tries to set off a smoke alarm in order to draw attention. Setting off the sprinkler system, Nemo floods the penthouse but attracts no outside attention. Leaving a message on the wall for the owner of the penthouse, Nemo apologizes for destroying his home, climbs the scaffold, removes the skylight and ascends out of view.
Seemingly an exercise in trying to convey the overwhelming frustration Nemo is experiencing, ‘Inside’ provides for an increasingly exasperating affair. The overriding sentiment the film conveys is the illustration of the main characters suffering. As Nemo is trapped in what has now effectively become the most luxurious vault on earth, Nemo is constantly reminded of why he is there and the fact that he will not be able to gain anything from the experience. It becomes increasingly apparent that Nemo would be so lucky as to get away from the trap unscathed.
Nemo’s journey from figuring out how to collect water and in sustaining himself on high-end charcuterie board components, the film drives home the notion of Nemo being tortured by his surroundings. Effectively hoisted by his own petard, Nemo has to go against his own instincts as he disassembles the priceless images and installations around him in order to be able to break free. In trying to escape, Nemo is hopelessly cut off from the outside world, with the penthouse serving as a halfway house between our world and hell, testing the limits of Nemo’s physical and mental capacity.
The film does highlight the dire situation that Nemo is trapped in, but rather than providing for a thrilling or suspenseful experience, the film delivers a journey that descends into tedium and desperation. With the second half of the film inching closer and closer to what would drive anyone to a mental breakdown, Willem Dafoe delivers an anxiety and dread filled consternation that only he seems to be capable of, expressing the fear and eventual acceptance of his circumstances. Suffering one defeat after the other, Dafoe’s Nemo travels a torturous road that eventually does lead to his freedom, but only after he has paid penance for his misdeeds.
‘Inside’ is a project that expresses the progressive and destructive downward path that the main character has to suffer through to redeem himself and earn his freedom from the luxurious trap he finds himself in. Without any reservation, the film is an exercise in patience and endurance, testing both Nemo and the audience to see if either party is able to handle the stifling and opulent trap laid before them.
Score: 2/4
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