It Lives Inside

It Lives Inside is carried by innovative horror imagery, a well-constructed script and great central performances that hold the emotional heart of the story.

One of the better PG-13 horrors of late, it ekes sufficient menace from the familiar story gist of a consuming demonic presence passed from one beleaguered victim to another.

The demon here serves as a perfect metaphor for the film’s frustratingly nebulous qualities.

It Lives Inside plays fairly conventionally with horror’s familiar codes and conventions, the incorporation of Hindu folklore in a story that is fundamentally built around the immigrant experience breathes new life into the otherwise hackneyed storyline.

I kept actively trying to like “It Lives Inside.” It kept pushing me out.

Dutta uses a familiar framework of teen horror as an accessible introduction to underexplored mythology exacerbated by a cultural divide. The gnarly new demon and the complexities of the characters mark this director as one to watch.

A creepy monster movie with a culturally specific iconography that feels refreshing for sparing audiences another exorcism sequence laden with crucifixes and holy water.

Slowly losing its identity as it runs its course, It Lives Inside fails to provide a chilling and emotional chiller.



A fun, skin-crawling horror flick with a satisfyingly chilling conclusion. I can’t wait to see what Dutta comes up with next.

While a creature that feeds on negative energy isn’t exactly new (hello, Stephen King’s Pennywise), there’s a freshness to this it-eration that draws you into the story.