INSIDE (2023)

Written by Ben Hopkins



Directed by Vasilis Katsoupis



Where & When: AMC The Grove 14, Los Angeles, CA. March 19, 2023 4:00pm



Having appeared in well over one hundred feature films, which doesn't even include several short films, numerous stage performances, largely with the experimental theater troupe, the Wooster Group which he co-founded, and voice-over work that ranges from documentaries to video games, Willem Dafoe has been one busy actor. Since his breakout appearance in "To Live and Die in LA" in 1985 which lead to his star-making role in Oliver Stone's Vietnam war drama and Best Picture winner, "Platoon" (and earned the actor his first Oscar nomination), Dafoe has made an impression in a diverse slate of films, ranging from dramas ("The Last Temptation of Christ", "Mississippi Burning", "The English Patient", "The Florida Project"), action flicks, ("Clear and Present Danger", "John Wick"); Wes Anderson comedies ("The Grand Budapest Hotel", "The French Dispatch" and his upcoming, "Asteroid City"), animated features ("Finding Nemo", "Fantastic Mr. Fox") and super-hero movies (appearing in the first "Spider-man" trilogy and "Aquaman").

With his latest, "Inside", Dafoe plays a thief who ends up trapped in the house he's trying to steal priceless works of art. And while the actor, who is nearly all we see during the one hundred- and five-minute running time, is reliably compelling as the corrupt character trying to escape this luxurious prison, the narrow focus of the narrative from first-time filmmaker, Vasilis Katsoupis keeps this film feeling airless and stagnant.

We first see Nemo (Dafoe), disguised as a handyman, breaking into a high-rise penthouse, communicating with his partner-in-crime as they briefly override the security system. Knowing exactly which works of art he plans to take, paintings by Austrian Expressionist, Egon Schiele, he discovers one is missing from it's usual location. Running out of time, Nemo attempts to leave with what he can find but an error trips up the security, locking the apartment down. With his partner ending communication, Nemo is now on his own to find a way out.

For the rest of "Inside", we simply watch Nemo try to escape this expansive dwelling, a sterile environment filled with precious objects and substantial contemporary art, all secured with state-of-the-art technology that includes automated systems to keep what is living (plants, fish) in the home alive. This home has effectively become an impenetrable fortress: no way in and no way out. The refrigerator is virtually empty, a clear sign that no one is coming home anytime soon and that meals are rarely eaten here.

As Nemo's time in this house turns from hours to days to weeks to possibly months, he shifts from fierce determination to extreme desperation, eventually approaching something close to serene acceptance. Nemo suffers severe injuries trying to escape when stacking furniture to reach the skylight. The heating system is broken, going from sweltering heat to frigid cold. After eating all he can from the fridge, he resorts to choking down dog food and fish from the aquarium. And frustrated when he can see the building's housekeeper outside the door through security cameras, but she can't hear his cries for help because she is wearing headphones.

The question is what are we supposed to take away from "Inside"? I suspect we are supposed to feel some sort of compassion for Nemo's dire plight, but he did break into this house in order to steal valuable art, making it hard to feel much sympathy for his situation. We don't learn much about Nemo beyond, through a flashback, that he was acquainted with the home's owner. But we do know that art is very important to Nemo, revealing this at the beginning of the film in voice-over, convinced that art is all that will truly last. During his time trying to escape, left with nothing more than his frayed, deteriorating thoughts, the isolation forces him to consider his mortality which in turn, inspires his own creativity. This gives Nemo a new sense of purpose, using the walls as a canvas and the broken furnishings to create new transformative works that are meaningful and, in a twisted way, leaves behind his artistic legacy.

With "Inside", director Katsoupis, a Greek filmmaker who was inspired by a stay in a similar New York apartment, has crafted a claustrophobic, cerebral experience that leaves behind a feeling of intense discomfort. Spare in dialogue yet visually energized, the film attempts to comment on how art stimulates us creatively, forcing us to think deeply which might help us become a better version of ourselves. But "Inside" manages to take us only on an underdeveloped artistic consideration, never feeling worth the arduous journey.