Previous horror movies have used knives and chainsaws to kill off their characters, but Netflix’s new body-swap thrillerIt’s What’s Insidemanages to turn peanut butter into a deadly weapon.It’s What’s Inside’sBodies Bodies Bodies-like plotrevolves around a group of friends who attend a pre-wedding party, where an old acquaintance who they haven’t seen for years turns up with a mysterious briefcase. When he reveals that the briefcase holds a dangerous new body-swapping technology, a seemingly harmless party game quickly turns ugly. All the friends’ betrayals and home truths start spilling out, and the bodies start piling up.
Written and directed by Greg Jardin,It’s What’s Insideis one of the most inventive and idiosyncratic spins onthe body-swap genreto come along in a while. Once the characters all start switching their consciousnesses in between each other’s bodies, Jardin starts laying on the twists. Two of the characters have a sexual rendezvous in other people’s bodies. One of them lies about who’s in his body, misleading everybody else. This body-swapping storyline also paves the way for one of the most unique uses of a deadly weapon in the history of horror movies: peanuts.
It’s What’s Inside’s Peanut Butter Allergy Trick Is One Of The Most Genius Weapons In Horror Movie History
Nikki Uses Her Own Peanut Allergy To Blackmail Shelby
Midway throughIt’s What’s Inside, Reuben (in Dennis’ body) and Brooke (in Maya’s body) are having sex on the rooftop balcony, which collapses and they fall to their deaths. Since Reuben and Brooke have now died in their bodies, Dennis and Maya don’t have the option to return to their original bodies. And not only that, some of the other characters like their new bodies and don’t want to return to their old ones. Since Shelby’s boyfriend Cyrus always wanted to be with Nikki,Shelby offers to stay in Nikki’s body, so he can be with his true love.
Taking advantage of her own peanut allergy, Nikki smears peanut butter all over Shelby’s/her own lips. This sends Shelby (in Nikki’s body) into a severe allergic reaction that could kill her if she doesn’t get the epi pen, which Nikki will only give her if she swaps back into her original body.
But Nikki doesn’t like that plan one bit, so she comes up with a smart way to force Shelby out of her body. Taking advantage of her own peanut allergy,Nikki smears peanut butter all over Shelby’s/her own lips. This sends Shelby (in Nikki’s body) into a severe allergic reaction that could kill her if she doesn’t get the epi pen, which Nikki will only give her if she swaps back into her original body. It’s an ingenious use of the body-swap trope, where a character can use her own deadly weaknesses against the person in her body.
It’s What’s Inside Is One Of The Most Twisted Recent Sci-Fi Horror Movies
It’s Mind-Bending Sci-Fi Meets Terrifying Horror
With its trippy body-swapping antics and succession of chilling plot twists,It’s What’s Insideis one of the most bonkers sci-fi horror filmsin recent memory. There have been some terrific entries in this subgenre in the past few years.Annihilationuses truly otherworldly visuals to disturb and amaze its audience in equal measure.No One Will Save Youwas a surprisingly soulful take on the alien invasion trope, using extraterrestrial visitors to explore the guilt of a young woman who accidentally killed her friend and became a pariah.It’s What’s Insideis a great new addition to the canon.
It’s What’s Inside Ending Explained: Who Ends Up In Which Body
Netflix’s It’s What’s Inside has no shortage of twists, leading up to a fast-paced ending that shocks viewers while answering important questions.
I have a tough time following complicated plots — I’m much more comfortable with a simple human story likeLittle Miss Sunshinethan a complex, multilayered narrative web likeInception— so it wasn’t easy for me to keep track ofall the body swaps inIt’s What’s Inside. But it was worth it, becauseit’s a fantastic story that builds to a jaw-dropping final twist. It’s as mind-bending as the best sci-fi and as terrifying as the best horror. In many ways,It’s What’s Insideis an unofficialBlack Mirrorepisode(and it’s better than most of the recent official ones).
How It’s What’s Inside’s Body Swap Horror Tropes Compare To Similar Movies
There Have Been A Few Body-Swap Horror Movies In Recent Years
Until recently, the body-swap trope was primarily reserved for kooky two-handed comedies likeFreaky FridayandThe Change-Up. The occasional horror film would utilize the trope, likeThe ThingorInvasion of the Body Snatchers, but they were more about an alien entity assimilating the characters’ bodies, not the characters switching bodies with each other. But in the past few years, a lot of horror movies have played with the body-swap trope.It’s What’s Insideis just the latest one to do it.UnlikeIt’s What’s Inside,Get Outused the body-swap trope to convey poignant social commentaryabout racism.
It’s What’s Insidepremiered in the Midnight section at the Sundance Film Festival on July 25, 2025.
MuchlikeIt’s What’s Inside,Freakyplays the body-swap trope for both gory thrills and goofy laughs, but it’s much less complicated (which might be why I like it so much).Freakytells a much more straightforward body-swap storythanIt’s What’s Inside. A teenage girl swaps bodies with a local serial killer; she wants her body back, but the killer finds it’s easier to lure in unsuspecting victims as a teenage girl, so he wants to keep it.It’s What’s Insidehas eight characters all swapping around each other’s bodies, and they don’t all want to switch back.
It’s What’s Inside
Cast
It’s What’s Inside is a film centered around a high-stakes narrative involving complex character dynamics that explore internal and external conflicts. Throughout the storyline, characters face personal challenges as they navigate their intertwined fates, providing a gripping view of their struggles and transformations.
