Summary

It Lives Inside weaves the immigrant experience and Hindu mythology into its horror narrative, but falls short in delivering real scares. The mother-daughter relationship in the film provides tension and depth, exploring the impact of the immigrant experience on different generations. Strong performances by Megan Suri and Mohana Krishnan elevate the film, but the story lacks depth and fails to fully explore its interesting themes.

Written and directed by Bishal Dutta, It Lives Inside is more than a horror story — it weaves the immigrant experience into its tapestry while employing Hindu mythology to drive its central narrative. The horror itself is little more than slightly unsettling, but never outright scary or chilling. Rather, it’s the metaphor and character journey that truly carry this film. Dutta does a decent job exploring the lead character’s experience as an outsider, how her classmates “other” her, and the relationships that are damaged in a bid to assimilate. But the film’s disparate elements and overarching themes don’t entirely come together by the end, leaving the story’s emotional throughline weakened as a result.

Samidha (Megan Suri) is trying her best to fit in at her high school. She’s got a contentious relationship with her mother Poorna (Neeru Bajwa), who wants Samidha to not be ashamed of her Indian heritage, and distances herself from childhood friend, Tamira (Mohana Krishnan) at school. Everything changes when Tamira begins coming late to class, holding a glass jar tightly while talking to herself. When Tamira comes to Samidha for help, an evil entity attaches itself to her, patiently tormenting her. Samidha must figure out what is feeding on her before it’s too late.

It Lives Inside has a lot of potential, but it needed to be fine-tuned to make it more of a worthwhile watch. Dutta has a lot to say about the immigrant experience, generational tension between mothers and daughters, and culture, but it barely scratches the surface and rarely delves into anything beyond introducing these themes. The film’s horror aspects aren’t particularly scary, nor do they properly build tension as the story unfolds. By the time Samidha faces the creature, the lack of intensity and momentum derails a battle that should have been more unsettling. To that end, the film fails in using its horror to elevate a story whose depth is only peaking through, waiting to be explored.

The mother-daughter relationship at the film’s center is — like the rest of the film — not too deep, but it is one of the more intriguing elements. Samidha and Poorna’s relationship contextualizes the story, providing the film with much of the tension the creature does not. Their dynamic also grounds the film, creating much-needed conflict and intensity. It’s relatable in many ways, and it’s in Samidha and Poorna’s relationship where the film dares to delve into the ways the immigrant experience affects different generations. It also provides the emotional throughline for the film, with Samidha and Poorna’s push-pull dynamic ramping up the stakes for the former, especially as she finds herself becoming more isolated.

Suri is excellent. Her performance really drives home the tumultuousness of Samidha’s feelings. The actress easily conveys the annoyance Samidha has with Poorna, the mask she puts on at school, and the terror from being haunted by the creature she can’t shake. Suri displays her character’s varying emotions, and it greatly elevates It Lives Inside because, despite its horror premise, it’s a coming-of-age story of sorts, with Samidha coming to terms with her own cultural background and where she fits in. Krishnan is also excellent as Tamira. Though she gets less to do overall, the actress drives home the terror Tamira experiences throughout.

It Lives Inside isn’t all bad. In there somewhere is a great horror waiting to break out, and Dutta showcases his skills throughout. It’s just that the story implies depth where it’s lacking, and its interesting, sometimes even well-executed, themes don’t get the chance to breathe. The end is satisfying in that it concludes the story Dutta sets out to tell, but it doesn’t amount to much. The emotion is definitely there, and there are glimpses suggesting a chilling horror, but the film’s strengths — in its metaphor and mythology, and how it relates back to the characters — are ultimately overshadowed by the film’s timidness.

It Lives Inside is now playing in theaters. The film is 99 minutes long and rated PG-13 for terror, violent content, bloody images, brief strong language and teen drug use.