Inside: The Berlinale film with Hollywood star Willem Dafoe is so good – film review

On March 18, 2023, the psychological thriller “Inside” with Hollywood veteran Willem Dafoe awaits us in German cinemas. The film was shown at the Berlinale at the end of February. We were there and spoke to Willem Dafoe in an interview. Of course, we have seen the film in advance and will tell you whether it is worth it.

Willem Dafoe in a one-man show: Of course it works!

Willem Dafoe has one of those faces you see once and then always recognize. His unmistakable grin, his striking face – Willem Dafoe is simply made for the screen. He doesn’t disappoint in “Inside” either. He offers us a one-man show that knows how to entertain. But what is “Inside” actually about?

Inside: An art thief in a paradise prison

Willem Dafoe plays the art thief Nemo, who breaks into a large apartment, more like a penthouse. It is a private collection of artworks. But once Nemo is inside, the alarm system goes off and he’s trapped in the luxurious apartment – cut off from the outside world.

Days, weeks, months (?) he now has to survive in this luxury prison, but there is hardly any food, no running water and the heating/air conditioning is going haywire. Along with the art he intended to steal, Nemo must get creative to survive.

Inside: An ambiguous title that just fits!

With the title “Inside”, director Vasilis Katsoupis not only refers to the fact that Willem Dafoe’s Nemo in is trapped in an apartment, but also that he is with himself and thus his innermost demons is trapped. As the time he spends alone in the apartment, he becomes more and more crazy.

Can he build a rhythm to stay sane? The film shows very well how the human psyche ticks in such situations and Willem Dafoe is able to take us into his inner abysses without words. Parallel to Dafoe’s human despair, Katsoupis also graphically shows us how Dafoe is doing, remodeling the setting into a metaphorical mind.

Structures have to be broken up in order to adapt to new circumstances. It’s getting busy and things have to be cleaned up quickly in order not to get lost in the chaos. Somehow there has to be a way out to the outside world, be it via a television (or screen – is this a metaphor for our fixation with smartphone screens?). This visualization of the human mind works very well.

Inside: Anyone who likes Willem Dafoe will enjoy the film!

Anyone who likes films that are as just described will also have fun with “Inside”. Fans of Willem Dafoe or even just sympathizers too. The actor simply has a screen presence like no other. But if you rarely go to the cinema, you shouldn’t expect bombast or a big, mega sophisticated work with “Inside”.

“Inside” works well for what the film wants to be. But it’s a relatively small film, just a one-man show. The film is not obsessed with looking pretty. The abysses of the human soul are dirty, so is the film. “Refreshing” looks different.

If any actor can carry a one-man show, it’s Willem Dafoe!

With Willem Dafoe as the main actor, director Vasilis Katsoupis has hit the jackpot. The star carries the film effortlessly, turning “Inside” into a gripping one-man show that explores the depths of the human soul. The environment is used in a very visual way to show wordlessly what is actually going on in the protagonist’s head. The film is not always “beautiful” – and that’s a good thing!

age rating	from 12 years
Duration	105 minutes
release	09 March 2023
Post Credit Scene	✘

occupation

• Eliza Stuyck

  jasmine

• Gene Bervoets

  owner

• Josiah Krug

  Jack

• Willem Dafoe

  Nemo

Who streams Inside?

Buy and rent Inside

genre

directing

script

producers

• Charles E. Breitkreuz
• Dries Phlypo
• Giorgos Karnavas
• Jean Claude Van Rijckeghem
• Jim Stark
• Konstantinos Kontovrakis
• Marcos Kantis
• Martin Lehwald
• Stephen Kelher
• Vasilis Katsoupis

production companies

• A Private View

• Bord Cadre Films

• Film and Media Foundation NRW

• Greek Film Centre

• Heretic

• Zhivago movie

• Screen Flanders

• Sovereign Films

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