‘Come in number 3’ – Nemo, Inside

Inside William Defoe in a vest

Photo source (IMDB)

Inside ..

Starring William Defoe, is a nutty one man show about William Defoe locked in a fancy pants apartment after an art heist goes wrong. He comes to the cold realisation that the toilet doesn’t flush, which reminds me of a horrific situation I found myself in at a showroom in Battersea Power Station. Honestly, why don’t people warn you about such matters?

Rotten tomatoes

Rotten tomatoes review Inside

Best review: dude wtf was that movie! (Society)

Who made the suit that William Defoe wears in Inside?

The lucid dream sequence sees the only departure in the film where the costumes take a turn. Defoe is at a cocktail party to celebrate the launch of an art exhibition. He is wearing a black suit and tie and looks fantastic. It shows that he has class and respect for his host even though he is robbing him or has designs to. I couldn’t get hold of the Costume Designer Catherine Van Bree, but the Key Costumer Ellen Blereau told me,

“Happy that you liked the movie. It was so much fun working on it! In the dream sequence we used a suit from Prada.”

Defoe wears Prada holding a wine glass

Defoe wears Prada (Inside 2023)

Defoe close up in a Prada suit

Statements

The clothes during the heist itself are unremarkable. He is a thief, and he uses workers overalls to penetrate the apartment. Although they’re not supposed to be making fashion statements, unless you look at the long overcoat that Defoe finds in the walk-in wardrobe. Defoe also wears some Nike black trainers. Although I watched this on the plane and it was tricky to get any decent screen grabs.

Casio Illuminator watch Inside

Casio Illuminator watch (Inside 2023)

The Watch

I did enjoy seeing the Casio Illuminator watch make an appearance. I have one of course as a homage to the Octopussy tracker watch. The one Defoe wears however, is on a black link chain. It gets dismantled halfway through the film and Defoe adds it to his own art installation that he starts to create as his mental health deteriorates.

When I spoke to Casio Support team

The item within the photo you have posted is part of the Edgy Retro collection but currently it is out of stock and we do not have a ETA of its return. You can however source this unit from a third party retailer. (Currently £46)

My thoughts

I enjoyed the first 20 minutes where the film is all about it’s own conceit. Capture, escape, survival. The symbolism of Defoe’s character being one that is quite literally realising the trappings of wealth, is an interesting place to explore. The futility of his situation is ironically compounded by the old adage (to quote Oscar Wilde) all art is useless. In short, he is in a right pickle.

But Inside fails to deliver or go beyond it’s premise (which I really dig) and gets a little bogged down with its own self-importance. For me it doesn’t even break my top 3 art films, Thomas Crown Affair, (original and remake) and Danny Boyle’s Trance. Perhaps if Inside had a steamy stairwell sex scene and/or a scene where Rosario Dawson nips to the next room and shaves her front bottom, then it might have got some extra points. But alas…