Two fascinating young filmmakers

Nine minutes and 30 seconds into It’s What’s Inside, a car ride for a couple with an estranged relationship culminates in an Edgar Wright-esque series of quick cuts related to parking the car: parking brake on, key off, locks up, door opening. The shot immediately following that mini-montage is an unbroken shot that begins with a medium shot of our female lead, as a bird flies into her face. Then the couple moves across an establishing shot of a mansion’s front lawn, into the entryway as they bicker, through the front door and entryway as they’re welcomed in, and into the parlor (or maybe the sitting room; I’m unsure of the precise architectural nomenclature of rooms within a given estate) as they are greeted by one, then two, then three old friends. The camera begins to spin as Altman-esque overlapping dialogue drops a spectacular amount of information on us, but it’s a meeting of old and estranged friends, so it’s performative and engaging and emotional and only part of what each character is feeling. It is only at this point, two minutes into this single shot, that I realized the feat of filmmaking that was unfolding in front of me. And the shot continues for another minute or two, traveling behind the male lead out of this grand room and out onto the rear patio, where we meet the sixth of our seven (or eight) main characters. The conversation continues, and ends in a close-up of our host. The next sequence is a retelling of the tale of the seventh friend who will be attending and the last time the characters all spoke with him. This story is told via shifting black-and-white photographs, the shots changing as the interweaving storytellers shift, argue, correct, and clarify the story being told. All of this happens before the 15-minute mark of the film, and the true plot of the film (as all good screenplays must) begins at almost exactly 21 minutes into the movie. By that time, I was already fully on board with the vision of the filmmaker, but the major plot point and revelation involved the split-screen pictured above, the culmination of which I was so blown away by that (bad movie-watcher alert) I had to immediately back it up and watch it again.

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