Today marks the streaming release of “It’s What’s Inside,” a terrific and twisty new sci-fi thriller that Netflix acquired for $17 million out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The movie is one of my favorites of the year so far, so naturally I was curious about its writer and director, Greg Jardin. “It’s What’s Inside” is his feature debut; he got his start making short films and music videos before finally getting his chance at making a full length feature. For several years in between, he paid his bills by directing promos for Netflix shows, including series like “13 Reasons Why” and “Wednesday.” One of Jardin’s promos in particular, which was made for the streamer’s canceled-after-one-season live-action adaptation of “Cowboy Bebop” starring John Cho, Daniella Pineda, and Mustafa Shakir, is bursting with the same kind of energy and verve that’s been injected into his new feature film. Years after the show came and went, I’d argue this promo is still so original, fun, and well executed that it’s worth watching even if you’ve never seen (or even heard of) “Cowboy Bebop.”
Cowboy Bebop: Lost Session is overflowing with style
Impressive, right? I especially love what he does with split screens here, taking one of the oldest cinematic techniques and bending and shaping it to his needs as a director. I can’t recall ever seeing story and form clash in quite that way before; even though this short film is ostensibly nothing more than a commercial for a TV show, I was not expecting a character to do something as creative and interesting as literally grab the barrier that divides the screen and wield it as a weapon. Despite our critic enjoying the show, the live-action “Cowboy Bebop” ultimately did not have a great reputation. I shared this short with a friend who responded, “Are you telling me they could’ve had it look like THAT but did not??” Without having seen the show myself, I can’t speak to whether it would have made sense to sustain this level of kinetic energy throughout multiple episodes, but regardless, at least we have this promo to look back on.
That same type of freshness (including fun use of split screens, as well as some of the same color palette) is on full display in “It’s What’s Inside,” which I highly recommend that you seek out despite the fact that Netflix has not done a ton to promote it. I had a chance to speak with Greg Jardin this week about the movie, but I also asked him about “The Lost Session,” and you can hear his answers on today’s episode of the /Film Daily podcast:
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