Inside

Willem Dafoe plays Nemo, a thief who gets trapped inside a luxury penthouse after stealing some artworks. He has to survive on his own, with only his memories and some fish for company. The film is a tense and gripping exploration of isolation, identity and art, with Dafoe delivering a masterful performance that carries the whole film. Director Vasilis Katsoupis creates a suffocating atmosphere that keeps the audience on edge, while also offering some glimpses of humor and humanity. The film is not for everyone, as it can be slow-paced, repetitive and bleak at times, but it is a unique and daring experiment that showcases Dafoe's talent and charisma.

It started off intriguing, suspenseful, and interesting, but then it started to become stale, repetitive, bland, with improbable circumstances, absence of logic, and riddled with plot and technical issues.

And after a slowly paced 100 minutes of an incredible performance by DaFoe - the only reason I kept watching, the ending is not worth the ink the convoluted lazy screenplay was written with. It's all filler with very little substance, and merits no rhyme or reason this film was even made. It just all fades away as a waste of DaFoe's talents, and my invested time to watch this nonsense with hopes of some sort of grand finale.

Classified as a psychological artsy-type thriller, there's been many films like this done before and much better. As the second only film directed, produced and (co-)written film by Vasilis Katsoupis, his work was impressive, especially his camera shots, close-ups and angle choices. He captured the very best of DaFoe's talents. But Katsoupis could only do so much with Ben Hopkins' screenplay. Had Hopkins put more structure to the story, better plot development, and given us a more concrete conclusion, this film could've easily been more compelling than contrived. Sadly the results as-is, are a huge disappointment and I can't recommend this at all. It's a very generous 5/10, all going to DaFoe and Katsoupis doing their best with the terrible script they had to work with.

Plenty of people have commented already, both positively and negatively. I'm in the positive camp. I'll try to help you figure out if this could be for you.

Art, life, human experience, ecology, our place in the world and in our minds. That, for me, is what this film is mostly about.

Arthouse, yes, but gorgeously so.

If you are a student of film or cinematography or photography this movie keeps serving up shots you wish you could create.

Dafoe's performance is brilliant - in a subtle and internal way.

If you thought Aranofsky's Mother was worth watching, this is for you (although completely dissimilar). If you have enjoyed Baraka, Samsara and the rest, this is probably for you.

In terms of plot, it is minimal and has no thrills to speak of.

I think it's important to say that there's nothing wrong with not liking the film, feeling bored by it, not wanting to see it. Those who will enjoy it are not above anyone else - those who are disinterested are not below anyone else.

I hope this has helped someone.

Dafoe is excellent in this film. If you are a fan of his, I would definitely give this one a chance. The story is quite meandering at times due to a relatively plotless script, but I have to admit, when Dafoe gets to shine, he is impossible to take your eyes off from. I wish the thematic elements regarding "art is for keeps" was more consistent throughout the piece, and I wish some side characters weren't just throw away characters to expand the run time. This takes place in one location. If you don't like those types of movies or have no interest in Willem Dafoe as an actor, you really don't need to watch this one. Oh, and shout out to the pigeon for contributing to one of the funniest scenes of the year.

Not too many movies leave me with the "what a waste of time" feeling, but this was one. Although the acting was good, there were just too many ridiculous things going on, and it was just too draggy. And like the usual sucker I am for watching until the end, I kept hoping "well maybe the ending will justify this colossal waste of time"; but no. Run away from this movie! You are better off watching the sequel to "Dumb and Dumber", or even one of the really lousy "Pink Panther" movies with Steve Martin. I don't know why imdb requires so many characters now for reviews, so I'll just say I warned you.