It Lives Inside

 

Director Bishal Dutta's It Lives Inside has been positioned in the horror genre market by the same folks who greenlighted Jordan Peele's game-changer Get Out (2017).

Dutta's nifty little assimilationist's nightmare is not as polished as Peele's stellar pictures are but it is a cultural curio that is well worth a look by fans of scare fests that also serve as social commentary. (The aforementioned Get Out.)

Megan Suri stars as Samidha (Sam), an Indian-American high schooler who is alienated from her Asian heritage, much to the disappointment of her mother, Poorna (Neeru Bajwa), a cultural purist who refuses to speak English, prepares only tradition desi dishes and hosts holiday celebrations. Sam's father, Inesh (Vik Sahay) is more tolerant of their daughter's explorations and is a buffer between Sam and Poorna.

When Sam's friend Tamira (Mohana Krishnan), who has turned into a bit of a walking zombie, starts carting about a jar with dark markings on it, Sam works even harder to put distance between them. One afternoon, Tamira asks Sam for help with the entity she says is trapped in the jar, something she retrieved from the home of another Indian-American student who was killed along with his family in their home. Sam sends Tamira away.

Sam's kind teacher Joyce (Betty Gabriel of Get Out) urges Sam not to turn her back on her friend because the children of immigrants should stick together.

This is not a persuasive argument for Sam, who does reject her friend and accidently breaks the jar. The entity is released, and, as is the way with such stories, all hell breaks loose in the form of an ancient soul-eater, the Pishach. Tamira disappears and people start dying.

Dutta and co-writer Ashish Mehta fold much cultural significance into Sam's battle with her own identity and the demonic presence that seems to feed on the fear and uncertainty of its host.

The spirit might be read as the struggle many children of immigrants face while trying to find their place in a country that is not always accommodating or welcoming, that often demands conformity and threatens rejection.