But the evening takes a wicked turn when their estranged classmate, Forbes (David Thompson) shows up with a game that allows them to switch bodies. The experiment forces the friends to face their deepest fears and desires, almost to an immoral degree, no matter what it could cost their friends.
For Shelby, that means she found some much-needed “empowerment” in Nikki’s body. For others, it meant they could finally act out on the secret feelings they had for each other – whether they were good or bad.
Decider recently got the chance to catch up with some of the film’s breakout stars about that wild ending and whether it’s rather open-ended finale means there could be a sequel down the line.
This article contains major spoilers for the end of It’s What’s Inside .
It’s What’s Inside Ending Explained
The body swapping is fairly easy to follow in the first two rounds of the game, even after Forbes pretends he isn’t the one hiding in Dennis’ body. But the stakes ramp up when Reuben and Brooke, in the bodies of Dennis and Maya, fall to their deaths during a romp on the balcony. With Dennis and Maya left without bodies to return to, everyone is up for grabs.
The film hits high gear as the friends start conspiring against each other. Dennis insists on staying in Cyrus’ body, and in a fit of anger, tells the cops (as Cyrus) that he was responsible for Reuben and Brooke’s deaths. Maya, who is in Shelby’s body, also spurs Shelby on when she shockingly decides to stay in Nikki’s body, as she is left without a body to return to.
O’Grady confessed to Decider that she found it “pretty severe” that her character was willing “to leave your whole identity to become someone else.”
“It almost shows how much Shelby felt like she didn’t have an identity in her relationship or in her life,” she said.
In the end, the friends try to switch back to their bodies with Forbes’ help. But they later learn it wasn’t Forbes at all. It was actually his sister Beatrice who took over his body as part of a revenge plan she cooked up while staying in a psychiatric care facility. She experienced a mental breakdown after having an ill-fated affair with Dennis that resulted in Forbes getting expelled from college.
So, rather than returning everybody to their rightful bodies, Beatrice commits one final act of betrayal so she could get away scot-free. Beatrice (as Forbes) takes over Nikki’s body, puts Shelby and Cyrus back in their own bodies, and put Dennis in her brother’s body. Maya then ends up in Brooke’s body while Nikki is left to take Reuben’s.
The thriller ends with Forbes (who was in his sister’s body this entire time) recounting the tale to Dennis the morning after. Shelby and Cyrus also have one last confrontation when she goes to visit him in prison, where he’s being held for Reuben and Brooke’s death. Meanwhile, Beatrice gets to drive off into the sunset with the suitcase and an offshore account full of Dennis’ trust fund, while staying in Nikki’s body.
O’Grady told Decider that she “did kind of feel bad” for Cyrus in the end, though he was definitely a terrible boyfriend to Shelby. “I think a lot of people would want me to say, ‘Oh, he should have been in the slammer.’ He should have definitely been in the emotional slammer. And he was the emotional slammer for Shelby,” she said, before adding that “it was also kind of funny.”
As for Nikki who is stuck in Reuben’s body, Debnam-Carey likes to think the savvy influencer would make the most of the situation. She agreed with Decider’s take that Nikki might use her business know-how to make Reuben into an influencer for some extra cash.
“I think they’d probably be like a severe mourning period to the loss of like her identity… I think she’d be like, nope. Like, I am making the most of this. Reuben is becoming an influencer. We are making a bunch of money,” she recently told Decider over Zoom. “But I think she’s pretty devastated at first.”
Both actresses were also open to the prospect of returning for a sequel, or even a prequel, as O’Grady suggested.
“The first time I saw Greg after filming, that is the first question I asked him. I was like, ‘Can we do a sequel?’ I would, I think it would be so great. There’s so much to explore,” Debnam-Carey said.
For more entertainment news and streaming recommendations, visit decider.com
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Local News
Comments / 0