Inside

Willem Dafoe can make even the most peculiar or morally ambiguous character a fascinating watch, but the simplicity of this high-concept psychological thriller also means that it can sometimes be a bit of an endurance test.

This is the kind of wild, let-it-all-hang-out work we know going in that Dafoe is capable of pulling off, and as a result, his descent into savagery has a whiff of the familiar to it.

Life, in the hands of Dafoe, is an agonized game. For Katsoupis, regrettably, agony wins the day.

As a showcase for the inimitable Dafoe it has its minor freaky-deaky pleasures. Ultimately, though, it goes nowhere—literally and figuratively.

It's a guided tour into the recesses of the human psyche.

What is clear is that great actors can do a lot to sell an ingenious idea that ends up being both its distinguishing factor and its own worst enemy.

A showcase for Dafoe, this picture manages to remain engaging in spite of some frustrating limitations.

Often as workmanlike as the man himself, it's best when it dances with its many more esoteric ideas.

This isn't [Dafoe's] best work -- he was better in the similarly themed The Lighthouse -- but he does terrifically as a problem-solver who slowly falls into despair in this deluxe, high-tech prison cell.

If art is truly about suffering, Dafoe (who did get a Best Actor nom playing suffering artist Vincent van Gogh in At Eternity’s Gate a few years back) goes through a lot of it in Inside -- and it’s a sight to behold.