Inside a l’ Interieur

Inside (À l’Intérieur)
Directed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury
France, 2007

PLOT

Sarah is a young photographer in her ninth month of pregnancy. Four months earlier, she lost her husband in a car accident. Christmas Eve, which is also the eve of her delivery, Sarah decides to spend the night alone in her large house. However, the arrival of a mysterious woman who is determined to get into the house at all costs will turn the sweet expectation of childbirth into a nightmare of obsession and blood.

REFLECTIONS

The debut of the French directing duo is a violent, sadistic, and extremely ferocious home invasion. *Inside (À l’Intérieur)* has earned a well-deserved reputation in modern horror cinema for capturing and visually expressing one of the greatest fears in the female sphere: the violation of pregnancy by a hostile force. This sick act, which will find its “why” within the film, is the driving force behind a screenplay that balances stylistically between gory horror and dark fairy tale. The two brilliant actresses take turns swapping roles, playing both protagonist and the hunter-prey dynamic. Bustillo and Maury direct with precision and a steady hand, and the warm interiors of the home become the backdrop for moments of ferocity and extreme situations, with massive amounts of blood, chases through corridors and rooms, bodies intertwined, and violent deaths. A striking and highly realistic effect is seen in the fetus’ reactions: we witness it suffer and respond to the continuous blows and hits the mother repeatedly endures. This is a film that knows no respite; the relentless pace is broken only by close-ups of corpses and the panting, desperate glances of young Sarah, who will do anything to defend herself, her home, and, most of all, the creature she carries within her—La Femme’s true target. The film is available on Amazon Prime, Chili, and Timvision.

PANDEMONIC MOMENT

Sarah lies in bed, exhausted from her encounter with the woman who knocked on her door, and falls asleep. The woman, having gained entry to the house, grabs a pair of enormous scissors and aims them at Sarah’s belly, ready to cut it open. But the young woman wakes up just in time and manages to escape, hiding in the bathroom with her wounded stomach.