Inside (2006)

The stars of Heroes and Gossip Girl in their most shocking roles ever.
Friends Alex (Nicholas D'Agosto, TV's Heroes) and Josie (Leighton Meester, TV's Gossip Girl) have a disturbing hobby. They like to follow strangers. One night Alex takes things too far when he sneaks into a home and gets caught...instead of calling the police, the couple, fascinated by his resemblance to their dead son Timmy, ask him to stay. As the grieving couple begins to believe that Alex really is Timmy, he finds himself trapped in a horrifying existence of desperation, despair, and insanity--and Josie, suspicious of Alex's sudden disappearance, is his only chance at escape...
Special Feature(s) include: Director's Commentary Product Description

good

Quite unsettling for a budget film. Makes an effective transition from odd to seriously creepy. The couple's macro-dysfunction is believable and drives the suspense: grief can fragment beyond repair. Economy of blood and violence works for this tale; the film leaves you thinking. Recommended. August 9, 2008

Above Average Indie Psychological Thriller

Although there's more than a little bit of "Misery" in this movie, it offers some novel observations and characters.

The protagonist is a sensitive young man who likes to watch people - at work, through their windows, even as he gains access and hides inside their very homes. However, you might soon begin to suspect that this young man is not a typical peeping Tom. That phrase carries connotations of sexual predation, whereas this young man is motivated more by an intense authorial interest in observing the details of other people's lives. Rather than having fictional TV sit-com characters projected into his home, he has chosen to go out and project himself into the homes of real-life people. This is in and of itself an almost refreshing trait. It's something we rarely see in movies - someone who's not comically self-absorbed, but who's actually interested in OTHER people.

Then this movie turns the tables in others ways. We begin to fear that the young man, who might ordinarily be considered a dangerous stalker, is actually the one in danger here. He enters and is caught in the home of one couple grieving over the loss of their son. At first, it appears this couple will make just a brief, benign connection with the young man who looks so uncannily like their lost son. But then things begin to turn dark. And the descent into madness starts. The principal actors are well cast for the parts they play in this derangement.

The Director's commentary is a little flat, and unless you have a lot of extra time, you can probably skip it. The movie stands chillingly on its own. July 6, 2008

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