INSIDE

Marco and Sarah are a young bourgeois couple returning home after an evening that led them to an argument. Upon arriving home, he goes out again to buy cigarettes, and she is attacked by two thugs who have broken into the house. The robbers tie up Sarah, and upon Marco's return, they do the same to him. But not everything is as it seems, and the pair of robbers have chosen the wrong villa to burglarize... Daniele Misischia is a young director among the most prolific in the contemporary Italian indie scene: just five years of activity and about twenty titles (shorts, features, and web series) in his filmography, with an incredible average of four films directed per year. Misischia's specialty is fan movies based on famous video games, as the success of his short film on Max Payne (« Max Payne: Days of Revenge », 2009) led him to tackle Silent Hill (« Silent Hill: Lost Innocence », 2011) and recently Resident Evil (« Resident Evil: Underground », 2012). Works that suffer from a lack of means but show a certain imagination and competence in handling the subjects. With « Inside », Misischia debuts in feature films presenting a very dark thriller that more than once delves into torture porn. First of all, we can see that Daniele Misischia and the co-author of the subject Cristiano Ciccotti liked « The Strangers » by Bryan Bertino, because the first 20 minutes of « Inside » are practically a remake of the 2008 film, then fortunately Misischia's film acquires a specific identity and goes in a completely different direction, building a « home invasion movie » with several rounds in the chamber. The strength of « Inside » lies precisely in the basic idea, a « homey » thriller that relies on a well-executed mid-story twist. At one point, the viewer is struck by the direction the film is taking, and the same can be said of an equally « unpredictable » ending. Therefore, the foundations are there, and « Inside » knows how to be remembered for some good ideas used appropriately. Unfortunately, the screenplay limps and is not up to the subject, the behavior of some characters is unconvincing (the guy who was castrated and doesn't suffer much, just to give an example...), the character of Alex the avenger is useless and bordering on parodic, and the dialogues mostly appear improvised. The unconvincing cast and a direction that is too frantic and falsely « gritty », with frames constantly « and unnecessarily » shaky, random zooms, almost as if we were dealing with a mockumentary or a reality TV footage. The soundtrack, on the other hand, is very good, as is its use, ready to underline emotional states and tension peaks. The somewhat shameless use of the « sex & violence » duo is another point in favor of « Inside », which does not skimp on meanness and hot situations, almost always excluded when talking about no-budget independent cinema, as in this case. « Inside », therefore, convinces halfway, some praiseworthy aspects are counterbalanced by a rushed screenplay and a style still in the process of definition.