Spoilers tell you not to expect Bo Burnham.

When a feature stars the unbelievable talent of Willem Dafoe in what’s essentially an one-man movie, you’re rooting for the premise to have teeth. To be honest, it felt extremely promising. Initially it does feel like a bit of a thriller with unexpected twists. I was intrigued. But then it sort of loses momentum and never gains it back. Let’s break in and see what’s missing from this caper.

(Credit: Focus Features)

Inside (2023) was directed by Vasilis Katsoupis and written by Ben Hopkins. An expert thief named Nemo (Willem Dafoe) manages to break into a rich art collector’s penthouse to steal some very valuable pieces of art. The job goes south right when Nemo is supposed to be extracted via helicopter and Nemo finds himself trapped inside the apartment.

I wanted so bad to love this movie. It has a solid start. I knew what to expect. But although the opening act has a decent, although not stellar, execution I have a problem with the rest of the runtime having anything resembling a development. Save for a few drops in a very dry bucket, we barely have anything worth to watch. Dafoe is hardly to blame here, as although he does portray well what is essentially the ordeal of a castaway in the urban equivalent of an uncharted island in the middle of nowhere, he is not given much to work with after the scenario has been presented.

I almost feel like this is a short story padded to fit the length of a full feature. The problem is it doesn’t tell us anything new the longer it goes. If the intention was to feel incarcerated with the main character, it works a little too well. However, it’s not due to being enthralled by the film but dulled by its inactivity. Nemo himself has an interesting personal relationship with art.

You can argue he’s creating art inadvertently as he’s starting to unravel but we’re not privy to the reasons why he does it. The ending is left a bit ambiguous and I almost wish there was more surreality in the second half to envision some more imaginative outcomes. Unfortunately it feels like the film does not allow us to go along.

Not recommended. Perhaps put it in your alternative watchlist when you feel contemplative. Don’t expect too much of a story past the initial scenes. You could call it a slow burn without a satisfactory resolution. The ending is one of those left to the audience, but I would have expect a little more surrealist depiction established somewhere. Feels like too long a runtime to justify so short of a story. Add it to you rainy day watchlist if you’re a Dafoe fun, but put it at the bottom.

That will do for now.