Susan Granger’s review of “Inside” (Focus Features)
“Inside” features a high-end art thief who is trapped in an extravagant New York City penthouse …it’s a Master Class in acting but agony to watch.
When Nemo (Willem Dafoe) inadvertently sets off the alarm system as he’s searching for a particular painting, he’s imprisoned in the huge, high-tech apartment he was burglarizing. Without food or water, his desperation grows.
The apartment belongs to a Pritzker-prize-winning architect who is working in Kazakhstan on a project called the Tulip Tower. He never appears except in Nemo’s dreams and hallucinations.
According to press releases, after viewing the many Manhattan glass-clad high-rises, writer/director Vaslis Katsoupis was impressed with their height, which made him wonder what would happen if someone was stuck on the top floor.
So Katsoupis and writer Ben Hopkins developed the idea of an urban Robinson Crusoe, marooned high above the busy streets, unable to escape. He can see people below, but they can’t see him; he can scream, but no one can hear him.
Since the plumbing is turned off, he collects water from an automated plant irrigation system. While caviar, pate, foie gras and vodka are delicacies, they don’t supply the nourishment Nemo needs since the pantry is practically bare except for a few cans of dog food.
But Nemo is certainly resourceful in his isolation as the room temperature fluctuates between extreme heat and chilling air conditioning.
While desperately trying to devise an exit strategy, Nemo goes on his own creative drawing/painting binge since, as a child, his sketchbooks were his prize possession.
For wiry, wry Willem Dafoe, it’s obviously meditative performance art. But for the yawning viewer, not so much. Bottom line: as a psychological thriller, it’s really, really boring.
FYI: In Latin, Nemo is Nobody.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Inside” is an inconclusive 3, streaming on Prime Video, Apple TV and Vudu.
