Stream It Or Skip It: ‘It Lives Inside’ on Hulu, A Culture-Rich Horror Movie Starring Megan Suri

Never Have I Ever actor Megan Suri stars in Bishal Dutta’s 2023 supernatural flick movie It Lives Inside, now streaming on Hulu. The movie follows high schooler Samidha – who goes by Sam – as she struggles to accept her East Indian heritage, which causes her to push away her family and closest friend. But when a dark entity begins haunting those around her, Sam must turn to her culture to tame the beast.

IT LIVES INSIDE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Sam (Suri) is dealing with many common teenage problems. The high schooler wants to be popular and get the attention of her crush. She also frequently butts heads with her mother Poorna (Neeru Bajwa) over her East Indian heritage, which causes tensions with her father Inesh (Vik Sahay), who is rather laid back but wants the best for his family.

At school, Sam is questioned by her teacher Joyce (Betty Gabriel) about her former best friend Tamira’s (Mohana Krishnan) strange behavior. The other girl has been carrying around a glass jar and behaving skittishly.

Sam dismisses her teacher and goes about her day, but Tamira’s behavior increasingly irritates Sam as they are often associated with each other. Making matters worse, a white peer attempts to relate the troubled girl’s behavior to their Indian culture.

Sam has a conversation with Tamira and asks her, “What’s wrong with you?” Tamira claims there’s a monster inside of the glass jar that she’s been carrying around. “It’s all the stories, the ones we heard growing up. It’s all true, they’re all true,” she pleads. Sam calls Tamira a “fucking psycho” and slams the glass jar out of her hands.

The jar breaks leaving behind a black dust. Tamira quickly walks away and leaves a leather notebook in her wake. Sam rushes after her to return the notebook and Tamira begins to stare ominously at a door that has opened on its own. She looks into the distance in fear and begins to scream. Sam leaves to get help, against Tamira’s wishes. 

Tamira suddenly goes missing with Sam being the last one to interact with her. A short period of time passes, and Sam is consumed by the mystery surrounding her friend’s disappearance. During this time, tensions with her parents grow as she ditches a special prayer ceremony for Tamira, and other traditions. Sam looks through the notebook that Tamira left behind, and she begins to experience weird dreams and phenomena. This leads her and her crush Russ (Gage Marsh) to investigate a local house where another Indian high schooler tragically died. 

As the movie plays on, several people close to Sam are attacked and she begins to desperately search for answers. The young girl finds that Tamira was right and the answer lies in the rich mythology of their religion as she is being haunted by a demonic being called Pishach.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: It Lives Inside will remind you of movies within the folk horror genre, like His House and Midsommar, as well as flicks with intense kill sequences like the Final Destination series.

Performance Worth Watching: Betty Gabriel gives an excellent performance as Joyce, the attentive and sharp teacher who expresses concern for Tamira early on. The character checks up on Sam as she quietly struggles through her friend’s absence, and helps her research the text in the notebook that Tamira left behind. Gabriel is a grounding figure throughout the movie, which makes her eventual attack extra emotional.

Memorable Dialogue: When the truth behind Tamira’s disappearance comes out, Sam’s mother warns her, “If you face a Pishach alone, you won’t come out alive. Your soul will burn from within until there’s nothing left.” Well, that’s a frightening image.

Sex and Skin: Not really! These teens are too occupied being haunted to get up to anything particularly naughty. Although, Sam and Russ share a sweet kiss before their unfortunate demise. Oh, young love!