The worst people you know just found a body-swap device. Specifically, the cocky financially well-off people assembling for Reuben's (Devon Terrell) pre-wedding party have stumbled onto such a device. This crew includes more likeable protagonist Shelby (Brittany O'Grady), her jerk boyfriend Cyris (James Morosini), and Forbes (David W. Thompson), the latter of whom has brought this revolutionary machinery to the party. This shindig soon orients around everyone switching into different people’s bodies and trying to figure out who has stumbled into whose fleshy coil.
Of course,
this being a horror movie, It’s What’s Inside is full of twists, turns,
and unpredictable chaos. Writer/director Greg Jardin (making his feature film
directorial debut after helming various shorts and music videos) leans into the
loopy with this premise. Inside is full of rapid-fire editing that would
make Edgar Wright proud and super colorful streaks of light fill up Reuben’s
domicile. It’s a visually maximalist enterprise full of alternatively vengeful,
horny, and manic energy. That doesn’t make for a fully cohesive motion picture.
However, those ingredients do make It’s What’s Inside reasonably fun to
watch while it unfolds, kind of like 2019’s Netflix horror film The Perfection.
Once it’s
finished, It's What's Inside’s more generic impulses begin to weigh more
on the brain, ditto its penchant for eye-roll-worthy “edgy” dialogue. Still,
there's some enjoyable thrills here, especially for a nice Halloween-themed
viewing. The best part of the proceedings is watching these actors play so many
different personalities in just 103 minutes! David W. Thompson especially
excels in contorting his facial expressions to immediately create a whole new
person. O'Grady also does strong work immediately establishing a firm,
discernible personality to protagonist Shelby in It's What's Inside's
opening scenes that’s extremely fun to see other actors mimic. Maybe there is
some upside to the worst people finding a body-swap device after all…
Hollywood
couldn’t quite make Mark Hamill and Hayden Christensen work as live-action leading
men. That’s no reflection on the talents of the two men, considering Hamill is
an iconic voice-over artist and Christensen crushed it in 2003’s Shattered
Glass. However, they would freely admit themselves that they never became
Leonardo DiCaprio or Denzel Washington-level movie stars after headlining multiple
Star Wars movies. Perhaps Hollywood assumed the same thing would
inevitably befall Daisy Ridley after she played Rey in the sequel trilogy.
However, Young Woman and the Sea is a great reminder that, holy cow, she’s
so talented as a leading lady.
In another
era, Ridley could’ve easily become a silent movie icon. Like Charlie Chaplin,
Harold Lloyd, or Janet Gaynor, Ridley has immediately transfixing facial
expressions that get you engaged with her characters. Much like with classic
F.W. Murnau protagonists or silent cinema leads, one look at Ridley and you
instantly sympathize with whatever fictional role she’s playing. It’s a great
gift that Hollywood desperately needs to utilize more. At least Young Woman
and the Sea nicely plays on this gift for a solid inspirational sports
drama. Here, Ridley plays real-life icon Gertrude Ederle, a woman swimmer in
the 1920s determined to beat the misogynistic odds and swim the English
Channel.
Nothing in
Young Woman and the Sea is very surprising, but it’s also a deeply
pleasant affair buoyed by sincerity. Director Joachim Rønning doesn't suffocate
the proceedings in snark, but rather embraces making a feel-good sports movie
like Cool Runnings for a new generation. The bond between Trudy and her sister Meg (Tilda
Cobham-Hervey) is also nicely-realized, their chummiest moments of laughing by
the fireplace or working to make a new swimsuit are just so sweet. Shout out
too to composer Amelia Warner, in one of her first feature film scoring
assignments (following 2020's bananas bonkers Wild Mountain Thyme). She
delivers some truly rousing compositions that often effectively evoke James
Newton Howard's epic Dinosaur tracks. The sheer magnitude of these
swimming shenanigans are nicely communicated through her orchestral works.
Then, of
course, there’s Daisy Ridley, doing superbly engaging work in the lead role.
Even when Young Woman and the Sea gets bogged down in predictable plot
beats or an overuse of sickening light blue color grading, Ridley remains captivating.
She’s what really makes Young Woman and the Sea worth a watch for sports
movie fans.
Do you
like Lisa Laman’s reviews? Check out more examples of her professionally
published work on her portfolio
site and don’t forget, she’s a freelance writer that is available to write
for YOUR website! Just reach out to her at her portfolio at the link above!
