Watch Willem Dafoe lose his marbles (and his lunch) in Inside trailer

Many of us became familiar with the strain of being trapped inside during coronavirus quarantine; Bo Burnham has a whole comedy special on the subject. But this new Inside, premiering March 10, 2023, takes the theme of isolation to horrifying extremes. Naturally, it’s Willem Dafoe at the center of this psychological nightmare, Hollywood’s premier performer of a mental unraveling.

If you thought the isolation survival two-hander The Lighthouse was tense, wait until you see this one, where Dafoe is all by his lonesome. Per the film’s logline, “INSIDE tells the story of Nemo, an art thief trapped in a New York penthouse after his heist doesn’t go as planned. Locked inside with nothing but priceless works of art, he must use all his cunning and invention to survive.”

And when they say nothing but priceless works of art, they mean it: despite his lavish surroundings, Nemo has no food or water, no communication with the outside world, and the temperature is rising. The attempted thief is forced to take drastic measures, eating (and gagging on) the wealthy residents’ exotic fish and licking the moisture out of the inside of the fridge.

With the cleaner on the other side of the door unable to hear his screams for help, the only company Nemo has are the pigeons outside the apartment and the art inside (get it), which proves to be cruel company. He’s haunted by the subjects of the paintings and takes it upon himself to create some masterpieces of his own. (And, urgh, spit up on one.) Reflecting on what he’d take with him in a fire, he muses, “Cats die, music fades, but art is for keeps.”

Per IndieWire, Inside is written by Ben Hopkins, and produced by Giorgos Karnavas (the producer behind Triangle Of Sadness), Marcos Kantis, and Dries Phlypo. Also appearing are Gene Bervoets, Eliza Stuyck, and Josia Krug, but for the most part, it’s wall-to-wall (and off-the-walls) Dafoe.