It Lives Inside 4K 2023 2160p WEB-DL

Sam (Megan Suri) is a teenage girl of Indian origin who lives in an American suburb. The heroine's friend begins to frighten others with strange behavior. According to the schoolgirl, she became a victim of persecution by supernatural forces. Soon the girl disappears, and Sam finds out that the creature feeds on human offenses. To avoid the spell, it is necessary to find out what tormented the friend.

It Lives Inside 4K Review
Along with new releases from the streaming platform Shudder, author's horror films from the Neon studio, widely known for the films Triangle of Sorrow and The Infinity Pool, are now and again leaking into Russian distribution. In terms of horror films, Neon can hardly compete with A24 or Blumhouse, but the latter is increasingly bypassing Russian distribution, given the sanctions. As you can guess, "Spell. The Evil Within" has nothing to do with the famous James Wan franchise, however, and about the ghosts in the picture is also out of the question. The debut of Bishal Dutta bribes the Western viewer with the slogan about the first Indian horror, shot on Hollywood models. The borrowings from "The Spell" are indeed unjustifiably many, especially for a film with such a pronounced national flavor - both in the cast and in the plot.

The main character of the movie, a teenage girl named Sam (Megan Suri), is openly ashamed of her nationality and avoids any family celebrations. In an attempt to fit into American society, Sam even breaks off relations with her best friend Tamira (Mohana Krishnan), who is also Indian. The fates of the girls cross again when Tamira turns to Sam for help - it turns out that for several days now she has been haunted by an otherworldly entity, an invisible demon that feeds on other people's anger and resentment. Sam, who at first is skeptical of Tamyra's words, quickly realizes that the demon does exist and seems to be looking for a new victim.

"The Spell. The Evil Within" willy-nilly evokes a direct association with the Netflix hit "I Never..." from "The Office" screenwriter Mindy Kaling. In both cases, the protagonist is a high school student of Indian descent who grew up at the intersection of Eastern and Western cultures. Like the protagonist of "I Never..." Davy, Sam is experiencing a kind of national identity crisis, eschews strange customs, considering them a relic of the past, in general, does everything possible to distance herself from the diaspora and turn into a standard American teenager. Her behavior naturally provokes conflicts with her relatives - in particular, with her mother, who is much more attached to her homeland. However, no matter how hard Sam tries, the past still catches up, turning out to be a creepy demon from childhood fairy tales.

In recent years, Hollywood has increasingly emphasized inclusivity, with giant studios promoting films from Third World directors, giving the green light to maximally authentic projects that pedal the themes of life in exile and culture clash. The marketers of "Spellbound" competently built the advertising campaign of the horror movie around this trend, but Bishal Dutt's idea does not justify it. Indian culture in the film is extremely decorative: it is read in their images and clothes, home environment, but hardly penetrates into the depths. Themes of cultural assimilation, sisterhood and loss of one's own roots hang in the air along with the invisible demon from scary fairy tales, but now and then they stop halfway through, never reaching catharsis.

Dutt's main sources of inspiration, oddly enough, are cult J-horror films ("The Call," "The Curse"), whose mythology is most often built around religion and the psychology of fear. However, the director's referencing is quite inept, literally copying the original, refusing to bring something new to the table. As "Spell. The Evil Within" gets tired of pretending to be a secondary j-horror, the movie borrows elements of body horror and even mainstream high school horror, but never becomes something coherent or unique.

The names of Raymond Mansfield ("Away") and Sean McKittrick ("Donnie Darko") on the list of executive producers inspired hope that "The Spell" could make an ambitious debut. However, Dutt lacks the inner core to push all the influential references to the background, giving the leading role to his own thought.