Warning: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Netflix’s It’s What’s Inside.
Netflix’sIt’s What’s Insideis a wild ride packed with hilarious twists, leading to an ending that raises many questions like who ends up in which body. The horror-comedy starts by establishing Shelby and Cyrus' unhappy sex life, which Shelby doesn’t know is caused by his love for Nikki. The pair and five otherIt’s What’s Insidecharactershead to their friend Reuben’s mansion the night before his wedding to play games. Forbes, an estranged friend who hasn’t spoken to the rest in years after a fight at a birthday party, brings a suitcase that can swap people’s bodies.
As shown in theIt’s What’s Insidetrailer, he proposes that they play a Mafia-inspired game where they swap bodies and have to guess who’s who. The group agrees, playing two rounds.Each character uses this opportunity to explore their secret desires.However, the game goes awry when Reuben and Brooke die while in Dennis and Maya’s bodies. The group quickly starts bickering about how to handle the situation, building up to the Sundance movie’s fast-paced ending that explores how we see ourselves and others.
Who Ends Up In Which Body At The End Of It’s What’s Inside
The Last Body Swap Didn’t Follow Either Shelby’s Or Nikki’s Plan
After Reuben and Brooke die in Dennis and Maya’s bodies, everyone starts panicking about what will happen. There’s no way to put Dennis and Maya back in their own bodies, since the vessels died when the consciousness died. Consequently, the argument quickly becomes whether everyone should stay in their present bodies or if the four should go back into their bodies while Dennis takes Reuben’s body and Maya takes Brooke’s body. The situation becomes even more complicated when Forbes tries to run off with the suitcase. Shelby, the other person who knows how to operate the machine, refuses to go back and makes a plan to double-cross the group.
Beatrice
Nikki
After the action-packed climax of Netflix’sIt’s What’s Inside,only two characters end up in their own bodies – Shelby and Cyrus.In a shocking twist, Beatrice was inside Forbes' body the entire movie and transferred herself into Nikki’s body at the end. Meanwhile, Maya was put into Brooke’s, Dennis was put into Forbes’, and Nikki was put into Reuben’s. Ultimately, the last body swap was the final step in Beatrice’s nefarious plan.
Why Beatrice Took Over Forbes’ Body
Beatrice Seeks Revenge For Her High School Trauma
The biggest shock at the end ofIt’s What’s Insideis that Beatrice was inside Forbes' body the entire time. It turns out Beatrice stole Forbes' body, knowing about his wedding party invite. She wanted revenge specifically on Dennis for what happened at the birthday party eight years earlier. Though it’s never overtly stated,it seems that she planned the whole time to stick Dennis in a body he didn’t want and steal his money based on the ending.
However, her revenge plot quickly morphs to include Reuben as well, since she learns that he also helped blame Beatrice and Forbes for the fight at the birthday party eight years prior. She places individuals in his body that will be sexual with another person, presumably to wreck his wedding the next day. It’s simply a happy coincidence that Reuben dies while in Dennis’ body. There’s also a possibility she punished Nikki by putting her in Reuben’s body because of jealously, though that’s not confirmed as being malicious. Then, at the last minute, she adds Cyrus to the plan, too, though he wasn’t involved in the inciting incident.
The Real Reason Beatrice Helped Shelby Punish Cyrus
Cyrus Treats Shelby The Same Way Dennis Treated Beatrice
An interesting twist in Beatrice’s plan is the fact that she helps Shelby punish Cyrus by placing him back inside his body, knowing whoever was in that body would go to jail for murder and robbery. At first glance, this seems like a selfless act, since Cyrus had no part in Forbes getting expelled or her going to a mental facility after the birthday party. However, her decision to help Shelby makes sense when Forbes reveals Beatrice’s motivations. Before the party’s events, Beatrice was in a relationship with Dennis, who lied to her about his feelings.
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Though Shelby and Cyrus have been together for much longer than Dennis and Beatrice ever were, there are multiple parallels between the two relationships. Like Dennis, Cyrus says many things to Shelby that he doesn’t mean. He assures her of his love despite being obsessed with Nikki. He promises to marry her, telling her his feelings for their friend are in the past, and then agrees to the body swap so that she’ll look like Nikki.Beatrice empathizes with Shelby because they have both been betrayed by men, leading her to place Cyrus back in his body at the end ofIt’s What’s Inside.
Does Shelby Have A Crush On Forbes In It’s What’s Inside?
After the second body swap, Shelby ends up in Nikki’s body and Cyrus in Forbes’ body. Shelby sees it as an opportunity to try the sex idea they had earlier in the movie – pretending to be someone else. She asks Cyrus to call her Nikki, and she calls him Forbes. Consequently, he accuses her of having secret feelings for Forbes. WhileIt’s What’s Insidedoesn’t directly confirm either way,there are many reasons to believe that Shelby does not have feelings for Forbes.
He feels guilt on a subconscious level for wanting Nikki instead of Shelby, so he’s projecting his feelings for another person onto her.
During the scene in question, Shelby only comes onto him after she says that she sees Cyrus even though he’s in Forbes’ body, making it clear that she’s trying to have sex with her boyfriend, not their friend. Additionally, she spends the whole movie trying to get Cyrus to be sexually attracted to her. It seems more probable that she recognizes on some level that Cyrus is attracted to Nikki, and Shelby’s willing to pretend that it means he’ll be attracted to her.
Moreover, Cyrus isn’t a reliable narrator or an honest person in theNetflix horror movie. There’s no reason to believe that he actually thinks Shelby’s attracted to Forbes. The more likely explanation is that he feels guilt on a subconscious level for wanting Nikki instead of Shelby, so he’s projecting his feelings for another person onto her.
Why Everyone’s Birthday Party Story Is Different (& What Really Happened)
A crucial part of Beatrice’s motivations is the birthday party that occurred when she was in high school and the rest of theIt’s What’s Insidecharacters were in college. Despite the fact that all the characters were at the party, they all have different versions of the story. Within the narrative, the best explanation for this is that they were all drinking, warping their memory of the night. Additionally, there were so many people at the party that they may have seen some events and heard some parts of the story secondhand.
There’s also a meta element to the different versions of the story, because audience members will choose who to believe based on their own biases, values, and life experiences.
However, the different versions of the story also tie into It’s What’s Inside’s themes about perception.There’s no single “true” version of the story because all of them see their memory of the party through the lens of their experiences.There’s also a meta element to the different versions of the story, because audience members will choose who to believe based on their own biases, values, and life experiences.
Despite this, by combining the stories, the best account of the night is that Dennis and Beatrice hooked up multiple times prior to the party, but he was cheating on Nikki. The college friend group threw a birthday party, either for Dennis or Reuben, which Forbes brought Beatrice to. She got drunk either from Forbes or Dennis. Beatrice and Dennis hooked up at the party, and she went around telling everyone they were in a relationship.
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To protect himself from the consequences of his actions, Dennis started gaslighting her and calling her crazy, which others joined in on. Beatrice might have attacked Nikki, though only one person gives this part of the story. Dennis and Forbes got into a fistfight, and someone called the police. People calling Beatrice crazy caused her to have a mental breakdown and end up in a psychiatric facility. Then, Dennis and Reuben blamed Forbes, getting him expelled.
The Real Meaning Of It’s What’s Inside’s Ending
It’s What’s Inside Presents Its Message About Perception Early On
Netflix’s horror-comedy packs in plenty of unexpected twists that keep audiences guessing. Interestingly,It’s What’s Insidesets up its true meaning of the ending within the first fifteen minutes, though. When showing off her art piece, Brooke says this:
So, if you look at it normally, it’s like this one thing, right? But then, if you look at it through a colored lens, you see something different inside.
This quote is the central thesis of the movie.It’s What’s Insidewants the audience to know that nobody is what they appear on the outside, especially when looking at social media and influencers like Nikki. The same goes for memories and stories.Everything in life has complex layers, so how we see the world changes when filtered through an individual’s perception.
How It’s What’s Inside’s Ending Sets Up A Sequel
At the very end of the movie, Beatrice, in Nikki’s body, escapes in a convertible car with the suitcase and all of Dennis’ money. Considering that she has a vengeance towards lying men and helped Shelby expose the truth about Cyrus, it’s easy to imagine anIt’s What’s Insidesequel where Beatrice continues her efforts to teach cheaters and liars a lesson. She could select targets for her Mafia-style game, punishing them for their wrongdoings. This would make her ahorror villain with a dark backstorylike John Kramer, using traumatic experiences as fuel to commit horrific actions that ultimately do good.
