Inside (2023) - Mental and Physical Decay in an Isolated and Lifeless Prison - 7/10 (29/12/23)

Inside is a claustrophobic drama and thriller with an excellent running time of one hundred five minutes. The story revolves around an art thief who is tasked to steal a series of expensive paintings from a rich entrepreneur. When he fails to locate all the pieces of art, the mission gets canceled and the thief is left to his own devices. He becomes a prisoner of the sinister penthouse and explores many different options to find his way back to freedom.

This movie convinces for two particular reasons. First and foremost, lead actor Willem Dafoe offers one of the greatest performances of his career. His progressive maddening is portrayed via frantic actions that are slowly spiraling out of control before losing their vigour. His body language is authentic as the agile art thief becomes clumsier, older and slower as the film progresses, getting injured on more than one occasion in the process. The film's monologues are also fascinating since they offer discomfort and frustration at first, then shift to a certain intellectual and philosophical depth before losing their grip on hope and reality. Aside some minor side characters, this entire film is focused on the main character. Willem Dafoe's portrayal exceeds expectations and deserves sincere attention and critical acclaim.

The second element that deserves to be pointed out is obviously the setting. The entire movie takes place inside the millionaire's penthouse in New York City. It might look elegant, fascinating and lush upon first contact. As we explore it further however, that same location starts looking cold, isolated and lifeless. The excessive presence of both art and technology makes that location look devoid of any comfort or warmth. To add further intrigue, the penthouse offers tiny details and secret passages that initially represent hope of finding a way out of this location before turning out to be mirages shattering any optimism. The appearance of the penthouse gradually changes as it stops representing the interests and talents of its owner and starts adapting to the mental and physical decay of its unexpected prisoner.

Viewers certainly need a certain patience when watching this movie as it's essentially the tale of one single man caught in one single location for a little less than two hours. Once you are willing to embrace the character and explore the setting, you will however discover a creative movie that walks off the beaten path and will be remembered for a long time. Perhaps the story would even work better as a theater play than an actual movie. It would be particularly intriguing to attend such an adaptation offering the contrast between the isolated actor on stage and the packed audience witnessing everything that's going on. If you like creative dramas and thrillers, you should certainly give this movie a chance and it might even grow on you in the long run as it has on me.