It doesn’t hurt at all, I swear.
Nobody expected Forbes to show up for Reuben’s wedding. Sure, the eight friends had all been close in college, but nobody has spoken to Forbes since he got expelled for bringing his underage sister to a party, letting her get drunk and then starting a fight involving her.
But he’s here now, on the eve of Reuben’s wedding. Getting expelled did nothing to waylay his Silicon Valley plans. He’s been working at a mysterious tech startup. And now, he wants his seven favorite people in the world—Shelby, Cyrus, Nikki, Dennis, Brooke, Reuben and Maya—to test it out with him.
It’s just a 20-second experience, I promise.
The device, housed inside an old suitcase, allows the friends to switch bodies. Forbes describes their brains like hard drives, and the device just transfers the files (their consciousnesses).
It starts off as a game. Swap bodies, then try to guess who’s inside whom.
But then things get a little … well, let’s just say that drugs, alcohol, old flames and current grudges all play a part.
We hear that when Reuben’s mom died, his friends were all there for him.
A woman says that out-of-body experiences are “true objective judgment in the eyes of Buddha.” She also burns sage, meditates and compares body-swapping to reincarnation.
During the body swaps, many different couplings make out. One couple begins to have sex, so we see both the real people hooking up and the bodies of the people they’ve swapped with. Nudity is kept to a minimum, but we see the bare backside of one guy.
Early on, Shelby tries to “spice up” her relationship with Cyrus by donning a blond wig and surprising him in lingerie. Instead, she catches him watching pornography (and the audience sees he was initially aroused by looking at the social media posts of Nikki, an old classmate) and pleasuring himself under a bedsheet. They’re both embarrassed and wind up arguing instead.
Later on, it becomes clear that Cyrus has always had a thing for Nikki. But when she rejected him nine years ago, he latched onto Shelby instead. He makes plenty of excuses for why he’s not ready to marry Shelby yet (even though they live together). And it’s clear that the porn use—not to mention his continued attraction to Nikki—has negatively impacted their relationship. (Shelby admits to masturbation as well, claiming that she does so because Cyrus never wants to have sex due to the porn use.)
Women often wear revealing outfits. During the body swaps, one guy starts to take off the pants of his host body to get the owner to talk. It works, so he doesn’t remove the clothing. There are several abstract sculptures of female body parts around the property, and we’re told these were made by Reuben’s mother. Many of Nikki’s social media posts show her in a bikini, and her male followers (including Cyrus) are always quick to comment how good she looks in her posts.
We learn that Dennis had sex with Forbes’ high-school-aged sister when they were all in college (pictures show the two in bed, scantily clad), sparking drama within the group, since he was dating Nikki at the time.
Several people use the body-swapping as an opportunity to cheat on their significant others. Many of them are either currently dating each other or used to date each other and still harbor feelings. It’s a twisted concept already, but even more so since the owners of the bodies cannot give their consent to the sexual activity. And unfortunately, there are other consequences as well …
A balcony crumbles beneath a couple having sex, and their bodies fall to the ground below, where a sculpture impales and kills them. The owners of those bodies are understandably traumatized. And it sparks a debate about what should be done since those two people can no longer return to their own bodies but also don’t want to be stuck in the bodies of the people who hijacked them.
A woman knocks a man unconscious with a sculpture. He’s then tied up to keep him from interfering with the body swapping. In another scene, a man knocks out a woman with a heavy object, giving her a black eye (but they had swapped bodies, so it was really a woman knocking out a man). A woman tackles a man to the ground.
When someone threatens to steal Nikki’s body, Nikki—who is allergic to peanut butter—wipes the stuff on her body’s face, stating she’ll only give the thief her EpiPen if they give her body back.
Pictures show Dennis and Forbes in a fistfight at a party after Forbes’ sister got into a fight with Nikki. And Nikki slaps Shelby across the face. Two other women nearly get into a fight, and one threatens the other with a crutch.
The f-word is used nearly 200 times, the s-word about 40 and the c-word once. That’s not including multiple uses each of “a–,” “a–hole,” “b–ch,” “d–n” and “d–k.” God’s name is abused more than 35 times, once paired with “d–mit.” And Jesus’ name is taken in vain at least six times, too.
People drink and smoke marijuana throughout the movie. One woman instantly becomes high after taking over the body of someone who had been using drugs all evening. People post pictures and videos of themselves using drugs and alcohol on social media.
We learn that Forbes gave his sister alcohol at a party when she was underage. And many people blame him for allowing her to get wasted at that event (which contributed to his expulsion), though we also discover someone else actually gave her the alcohol.
Someone says that no drug can give you the high of being in someone else’s body, and another person says it’s addictive.
Cyrus is a terrible boyfriend, and he pretty much manipulates and lies to Shelby throughout the whole film. However, she responds with some pretty foul behavior of her own. Other people lie as well.
Several people attempt (and a few succeed) to steal the bodies of others. Many insults are hurled, since people are understandably upset by this experience. Someone steals a valuable piece of technology. While body-swapped, one character empties a guy’s bank account.
A man is sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit after someone inside his body calls the police and confesses. He’s undeniably a jerk, but the punishment doesn’t fit the crime. People use each other’s bodies in other unethical ways.
There are some jokes and comments about racism and cultural appropriation. A man pretends to have a seizure to scare his friends. We learn that Dennis accused Forbes’ sister of being “crazy” at a party. Later on he learns that she had a history of mental health problems and that being called “crazy” that night caused her to have an episode—which subsequently led to her being held in a mental health facility under suicide watch.
A woman is devastated to be left at the altar.
Normally, I would conclude a review with a little summary of any messages the film is trying to send. I’d give credit to any positive content and really hone in on any problematic issues to keep in mind when making your decision about whether to watch it.
Normally, that’s what I would do.
Instead, I’ll make my review of Netflix’s It’s What’s Inside really simple:
It’s What’s Inside is easily the most foul-mouthed film I’ve reviewed this year. It glorifies drug and alcohol use without realizing how much those elements play into the problems that follow. Pornography isn’t treated as something that needs to be taken seriously; rather, it’s treated as an excuse for lust. And lust—well, to be honest, I’m not really sure why any of these people are in relationships since they all clearly want to be with other people. But suffice it to say that nobody holds back how they’re really feeling.
So … I won’t either: Nobody really needs to see what’s inside It’s What’s Inside.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
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