It Lives Inside’s Director Would Love To Revive The Nightmare On Elm Street Franchise, But Knows There’s One Massive ‘Challenge’
Among this Halloween season’s most exciting new releases is It Lives Inside, which is the debut feature film of writer/director Bishal Dutta. The movie tells the scary story of a teen girl who becomes haunted by a flesh-eating demonic spirit named Pishacha (pulled from Hindu and Buddhist mythologies). If you’ve just watched the new horror movie and are processing the ending and what it means, read on. We spoke with Dutta about his intentions with the chilling and open-ended conclusion. SPOILERS are ahead.
The end of It Lives Inside sees Samidha (played by Never Have I Ever Season 4 cast member, Megan Suri) finding her childhood best friend Tamira (Mohana Krishnan) in a basement still alive and coming face to face with Pishacha. The pair fight off the demon by repeating a phrase over and over from the journal they found of its previous victim. But the solution for getting rid of the demon isn’t containing it to a jar this time; it becomes contained inside Samidha’s body.
The final scene has Samidha sitting around a table with her family, Tamira and her teacher (played by Betty Gabriel) one year later. She is fed raw meat to please the demon, but otherwise it looks like the rest is back to normal for her. You know, except for the fact that she is hosting Pishacha inside her.
How It Lives Inside Almost Ended
When CinemaBlend spoke to Bisha Dutta about the It Lives Inside ending, the writer/director shared how he came across the ending. As he shared, at first the movie had a different conclusion. In his words:
Dutta nearly went for a more typical ending for It Lives Inside, but opted to have the demon live inside Samidha at the close of the movie to add more intrigue to audiences as they leave the theater. Now let’s talk about how the theatrical ending came about and what it means.
What The Lives Inside Means To Its Writer/Director
The horror movie, which was actually crafted by the producers behind Get Out, has some unexpected influences. Dutta shared:
Dutta also talked about the meaning behind his decision to keep the kill count to a minimum at the end of the film as well. As he continued:
In a lot of ways, It Lives Inside encapsulates the metaphorical demons of being an American immigrant like Samidha who has to strike a balance between her upbringing and her heritage. In the end, Samidha embraces her heritage and has this community around her, but she faces an internal journey within her between who she is and containing the demon. Now that you’ve seen It Lives Inside, check out what other upcoming horror movies are headed our way next, along with our ranking of the best horror movies ever.