And for the second time in this particular Christmas review series, we are venturing to France, and we are watching Inside (2007). I have reviewed several films this year that are right on the cups of being Christmas films, but this one feels like I am really taking the definition of a Christmas film and pushing it to its limits. That being said it does take place on Christmas Eve, and I am posting it on Christmas Eve so I feel like I can just about get away with it. The film follows Sarah (Alysson Paradis), whose husband was killed in a car crash four months prior to the film’s events. Sarah is due to give birth any day but wants to be alone over Christmas as she is still grieving her husband. Her world is soon turned upside down when, on Christmas Eve, a woman breaks into her house in an attempt to take Sarah’s unborn baby.
So yeah, I think I may have jumped the shark with having this a Christmas review. What we actually have here is a miserable, violent, difficult-to-watch film, and I had a great time with it. The film is part of the French extremity movement, which is exactly what it sounds like. I haven’t actually seen that many films from the movement, but I am aware of several of them because they are pretty infamous. From what I can tell, Inside is seen as a bit of an introduction and gateway into the movement, and it is pretty messed up in and of itself so you get the idea of what the movement will be like. And because the film is messed up it is hard to review without spoiling a lot of what happens, and also because I don’t think I could possibly recommend it unless I knew you were into films like this. The film is gory as all hell, and sometimes it goes a little too far and strays into comedic because of how far it takes it. But it also had several moments where I was squirming in my seat or looking away from the screen. It doesn’t cut away from any of the violence, letting you see it up close and personal. The film is quite mean-spirited at times, but that is the tone it is going for and it works for the story. It also manages to have some genuinely brilliant moments of suspense and is littered with some brilliant horror imagery. So, if you are into messed up horror films it is a very solid one, but it definitely isn’t for anyone, and I definitely wouldn’t recommend you watch it on Christmas Eve.
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