It's What's Inside (2024) Plot Summary & Ending Explained

Reuben (Devon Terrell) is getting married and invites his college buddies to a party the night before the wedding. They include long-time couple Shelby (Brittany O’Grady) and Cyrus (James Morosini) who are having serious relationship issues; social media influencer Nikki (Alycia Debnam-Carey); Reuben’s ex Maya (Nina Bloomgarden); Dennis (Gavin Leatherwood), and Brooke (Reina Hardesty). The rest are all surprised to learn that Reuben also invited their old college friend Forbes (David Thompson). Although they were all close with Forbes, they hadn’t seen him since he was expelled after an incident at college. During a party, Forbes got into a fight with Dennis. Campus security arrived and found Forbes gave his underage sister Beatrice alcohol, and the rest of the group sided with Dennis over Forbes regarding the fight. Already suffering with mental health issues, this incident caused Beatrice to have a nervous breakdown and she was committed to a mental hospital.

Forbes arrives seemingly happy to see them again, even graciously accepting Dennis’ apology for what happened. He’s now wealthy and works in the tech sector. Forbes has brought a top-secret invention he’s been working on, calling it a “game.” Each guest attaches an electrode to their head, and every electrode is attached to the machine controlled by Forbes. When Forbes activates the machine, it causes each person’s mind to jump into the body of someone else. They agree to play a game where they will switch bodies and then each person has to guess which person is in which body. Forbes keeps track of which person is in which body, and he will return everyone to their rightful body at the end of each round.

Round One – People are quickly able to guess most of their friend’s identities due to each person not having much experience hiding their quirks and tics. However, when one person incorrectly guesses that Cyrus is in Dennis’ body (when in fact Forbes is in Dennis’ body), Forbes responds that they guessed correctly. Cyrus (who is actually in Reuben’s body) privately confronts Forbes, and Forbes responds that he just wanted to give Cyrus a chance to experience life with no consequences (which was something Cyrus earlier confided to Forbes that he wanted a chance to do). Cyrus then follows Maya (who is in Nikki’s body) to the basement where, because Maya is still attracted to Reuben, she begins hooking up with him. They stop when whoever is in Maya’s body (which is not revealed) walks in on them and it freaks Maya out. Cyrus is then disturbed when he observes Shelby (in Brooke’s body) and Reuben (in his body) making fun of him (as they don’t realize Cyrus is in Reuben’s body). He also begins questioning Forbes’ motives. Nonetheless, after the round ends, Cyrus is unable to convince anyone not to play again.

Round Two – Shelby ends up in Nikki’s body, much to her delight (as Shelby is very jealous of Nikki). She tries seducing Cyrus (in Forbes’ body), but he eventually stops making out with her and demands they end the round and stop playing the game. Meanwhile, Reuben (in Dennis’ body) has taken Brooke (in Maya’s body) up to the roof as it turns out Reuben is still attracted to Maya. The pair confess who they are, and then begin having passionate sex. The balcony they are standing on crumbles and both accidentally fall to their deaths. With their friends dead (and Dennis and Maya now lacking bodies to return to), pandemonium breaks out. Different people refuse to switch bodies, secrets are revealed, and mistrust grows when Forbes (in Reuben’s body) tries to run away with the machine. Dennis (in Cyrus’ body) who is having a major freak out accuses Cyrus of draining his bank account during Round 1 (not realizing Forbes was actually in his body during Round 1) and, to get revenge, calls the police to confess to murdering their dead friends. Panic grows as the police are now on their way, and the split between how to resolve the body switch issue grows. Shelby (who earlier learned how to operate the machine) proposes to Cyrus that she remain in Nikki’s body permanently and they run away together (with Cyrus swapping to Reuben’s body, leaving Dennis in his to take the fall for their friends’ death). Cyrus (who it was earlier revealed to have had a long-time crush on Nikki, and whose actions in Round 1 were also revealed) agrees. A struggle ensues over whether Shelby or Forbes will operate the machine. Forbes ultimately prevails and smashes the button to switch their personalities as the police bust into the house.

Coda – Beatrice (Forbes’ sister) arrives unexpectedly at the wedding and storms in. She finds it to be more of a funeral as people weep over the deaths and Reuben’s seeming disappearance. She sees Forbes and confronts him, only to realize that Dennis is in Forbes’ body (and Dennis says that Maya is now in Brooke’s body). When Dennis questions what Beatrice is doing she reveals that she is actually Forbes in Beatrice’s body. Forbes reveals that prior to the events in the film, he’d taken the machine to the mental hospital and switched minds with his sister, hoping it would help her get over her depression. Once switched, Beatrice (in Forbes’ body) knocked him out and left the hospital and he’s been chasing her ever since.

Beatrice harbored major resentment at all of them for what happened to she and Forbes (also being revealed that Dennis had an affair with Beatrice, which is what led to the fight at the party) and wanted revenge. Beatrice was the one who drained Dennis’ bank accounts. In the final switch, she then took Nikki’s body (sending Nikki into Reuben’s body) and escaped with the machine. Now wealthy and in a completely new body, Beatrice is shown driving away into the sunset.

Meanwhile, Shelby (back in her own body) visits Cyrus (back in his own body) in jail. He begs Shelby to help him out of jail as he’s being charged with the murders of Maya and Dennis (actually Brooke and Reuben) due to Dennis’ false confession while in Cyrus’ body. Shelby responds that her last proposal (that he run away with her in Nikki’s body) was an intentional test to find out once and for all if he loved her. Since he failed, Shelby says she’s all too happy to let Cyrus rot in jail.

Body Swap Rundown

Once the game’s chaos unfolds, the true mastermind behind everything is revealed: Beatrice, Forbes’ sister. Throughout the film, we learn that she’s been plotting her revenge against those who betrayed her after a traumatic incident at a party years ago. Beatrice, who was trapped inside Forbes’ body, took advantage of the body-switching game to orchestrate her plan. Her goal was to make her former friends face the consequences of their neglect and cruelty, especially regarding how they dismissed her after her emotional breakdown. The game gave her a unique opportunity to see her enemies from the inside and manipulate them, turning their lives upside down. By killing Reuben—who was in Dennis’ body— she aimed to remove a person she saw as complicit in her suffering, since Dennis’ dismissive attitude and lies had contributed to her mental anguish. The fact that Reuben died under Dennis’ body was a double blow, symbolically killing two birds with one stone.

As the chaos continues, it becomes clear that the game’s addiction and obsession with bodies have blurred the lines of identity and morality. Beatrice’s revenge was about exposing how superficial and deceptive the group’s relationships had been, driven by vanity, lies, and greed. She drives away in the final scene, in Nikki’s body, having stolen the money and leaving the others to deal with the fallout. In the end, Cyrus (who is back in his own body and innocent of the murders) is taken to prison because of his violent actions. Meanwhile, Shelby, who also regains her own body, uses her own words—reclaimed and empowered—to show that she’s back in control of her life.