It Lives Inside Summons the Haunting Demons of Heritage Folklore

It’s time to start believing in the lore your family passes down—it might just give you a chance to survive the demons of myth when they rear their heads. In the latest look at director Bishal Dutta’s It Lives Inside, a teen girl learns just that.

From the producers of Get Out, Dutta’s feature debut delves into teen horrors of trying to fit in by assimilating and withdrawing from your culture… all while an ancient entity rises to haunt those closest to you. Sam (Poker Face’s Megan Suri) discovers after rejecting her Indian culture that a demonic, energy-sucking spirit, the Pishach, has latched itself on her former best friend and threatens to come after her too. In order to face it, Sam must embrace her heritage for a fighting chance. The film also stars Neeru Bajwa and Mohana Krishnan.

Watch the trailer below.

It’s exciting to see more scary Indian legends from folklore get their due. The Pishach is an especially terrifying one; it’s the embodiment of an evil that sucks the life out of people while it shape-shifts and possesses them. Dutta’s introduction of it in the trailer—with Sam’s friend telling her the stories they grew up with are true—juxtaposed with the creepy entity stalking them heightens the tension of the Pishach’s terror, and it’ll be intriguing to see how the personal tale of a teen reconnecting with her ancestral roots plays a part.

It Lives Inside opens September 22.

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