Willem Dafoe puts on a one-man show in the tragically dismal psychological thriller, Inside. Greek filmmaker Vasilis Katsoupis makes a bold directorial debut here, poking holes in the perception of affluence within the art world and its superficial meaning when compared to life itself. Starring Willem Dafoe in the role of a lifetime – who acts alone for nearly the entire film – Inside offers high-concept commentary on the meaning of art and what happens when we devoid it of context.
Cats die. Music fades. But art is for keeps. This is the mantra that justifies the actions of Nemo (Dafoe), a member of an art thief ring who has successfully broken into the temporarily vacant NYC penthouse of an ultra-wealthy art collector. Remembering a prompt he was given as a schoolboy about what he would save from a house fire, Nemo recalls putting the priority on his sketchbook, not on his parents. Fast forward to today, Nemo is hurriedly pulling paintings and memorabilia off of the apartment’s towering walls as his partner, only heard from through a walkie-talkie, gives him a minute-by-minute countdown. Nemo has millions of dollars worth of artwork in his bag. Everything has gone according to plan. That is until the high-tech security system is accidentally triggered and locks Nemo inside the palatial apartment.
After a frantic effort to disable the alarm’s blinding lights and screeching alerts, the reality of the situation sets in. His partner – scared off by the misstep – abandons him. The museum quality doors won’t open. There is no exit in sight. Also, the apartment’s temperature system has been wrecked, and uncontrollably raises the interior up degree by degree. With food scarce and the water supply cut, Nemo is sweating out more of his sanity with every hour that passes. It’s funny; on the one hand, literally, he is worth millions of dollars. But what good is it to be a millionaire when you’re dead?
For a film about extravagance, it’s fairly minimal in its execution. Willem Dafoe gives a tour de force performance and holds nothing back, his malnourished frame getting more obvious as the days pass with little to no food or water. By watching Inside, we’re witnessing a man unravel from the inside; going from sensible to insane in a matter of days (or weeks, it’s purposefully ambiguous). Dafoe’s execution of a psychological mental is extraordinary, never once feeling forced or untrue. Paired with the airy, unnerving score by Frederik Van de Moortel, the increasingly frenetic energy gets absorbed by the audience. I caught myself taking shallow breaths during heightened moments of tension multiple times.
Despite this being a film about the disillusionment of art, its gorgeousness is still something to swoon over. The architecture, spacial awareness, interior design, and gallery walls would no doubt be featured among Architectural Digest‘s most-watched home tours. There’s also an abstract beauty to the film in the way director Vasilis Katsoupis plays with sound and space. Reverberations and sporadic moments of deafness in the music edit combined with the rich and dramatic lighting foreshadow the space’s stronghold over Nemo, and its ability to destroy him.
Inside is isolation insanity at its peak while simultaneously shining a light on the dark side of luxury. Despite its gritty and suffocating nature, this is one of the most beautifully meditative films on materialism that I’ve seen in a long time.
Distributed by Focus Features. Opening in theaters this Friday. For times and locations, click here.
