Vasilis Katsoupis’ “INSIDE”
Movie review by Dennis D McDonald
One of the YouTube movie reviewers called INSIDE "one for the art house crowd.”
That may be true. While I do enjoy a good popcorn movie now and then I was definitely fascinated and entertained from start to finish with this film.
Much of that is based on watching Willem DaFoe perform. He plays “Nemo,” a high end art thief. After breaking into a rich collector’s Manhattan penthouse to steal a valuable painting, he is locked in with no way to communicate with the outside world. With no ready access to water and food and the owner of the apartment not due back for the foreseeable future, we watch as Nemo tries to find a way out armed only with a dead walkie talkie and a pen knife. While trapped he gradually destroys the apartment and its valuable contents. His behavior becomes increasingly erratic after each attempt to communicate or escape fails.
Actor Dafoe is constantly front and center. While we learn just a little about Nemo's personal backstory, we do begin to form an understanding of his personality and why he might now be making a living through such nefarious means.
It's tempting to interpret this movie as a condemnation of capitalism, as an attack on the vacuity of modern art in the face of more serious societal ills, or even as a personal tragedy of the “little man” versus the system.
I think it's possible to just view the film as the struggle of one man against implacable odds. What fascinates here is DaFoe's performance. We know he has experience playing wild and crazy guys. Here his performance is much more nuanced, controlled—and a pleasure to watch.
Director Katsoupis surrounds all this with superb photography and a seriously effective and minimalist soundtrack. If you are searching for something that is unusual and even a bit challenging, I highly recommend INSIDE.
Review text copyright (c) 2023 by Dennis D. McDonald
