The I Inside
Tags: psychedelic, murder, flashback

Plot synopsis:
Simon Cable (Ryan Phillipe) wakes with a start. Dr Newman (Stephen Rea) tries to calm him as Simon pulls at the tubes attached to his body. The doctor prescribes 5mg of diazepam. Simon is told he is in hospital and appears to have lost his memory after having been brought in the night before experiencing violent convulsions. He is told that he died and his heart stopped beating for 2 minutes. He will need to remain under observation for a few days. Dr Newman mentions that the hospital is short-staffed and that he is actually a paediatric doctor. He offers Simon a lollipop.Dr Newman tests Simon's memory and he remembers everything except for the past 2 years. He thinks he has woken up in 2000, but it is actually 2002 and he is told he is married to a woman named Anna who he does not recall.We cut to a montage of disorienting shots of Simon's POV from an accident. He is on the road looking at a man dash across the street in the pouring rain shouting, "Back that truck up now! Get these cars out of here!" We see flashing blue lights on a vehicle. An EMT runs up and asks, "Are you alright? Are you ok? Take it easy man, I'm gonna take you on a little trip." He is rushed to the hospital and operated upon. A female voice says, "His name is Simon Cable". Doctors start chest compressions as we hear a flatline and Simon's POV floats up and looks down on his body from the ceiling until the defibrillator brings him crashing back to earth.Just before Simon awakens startled yet again, a nurse mentions that she fears he might have been poisoned due to low Synoptic Cholinesterase. The doctor tells him he has short term memory loss and that they have to piece together the past like a puzzle (he has a puzzle in front of him). "There's only one inescapable rule in the game of life, kid. Sooner or later everybody has to stop playing." He says further that Simon's wife may help him remember.A woman (Sarah Polley) is fresh-faced and appears suddenly, excited to see Simon. She is shocked to hear he has memory loss and does not remember her. She asks him if he is crazy, laments, "I have nothing left," and leaves. Simon runs out after her and the orderly and Dr Newman stop him, saying that no-one has left his room. He turns to see a strange woman declare that the doctor has informed her about his condition. This is not the woman Simon saw just moments before in his room, but rather his wife Anna (Piper Perabo): mournful and distant.Anna and Simon sit with the doctor to piece together Simon's history. Anna says she was not with Simon the night before. Simon guesses that he must have been in the area visiting his brother, Peter (Robert Sean Leonard), who had moved into their deceased parents' estate recently. Anna reveals that Peter died before Anna and Simon met. They realise that Simon had gone to see Peter the night before his memory loss began. We see flashes of memories of car headlights, Simon driving in the rain, then an empty void. Anna reveals that he is thinking about a car accident which happened just before he met Anna. An orderly (Stephen Graham) walks past and winks. She says that this (St Judes) was the hospital he was brought to after his last accident. Anna says that 2 days previously Simon had come up to close up his parents' house which had been sitting empty. Dr Newman says that his low levels of enzymes indicate that he might have been poisoned by fumes from something like cleaning products.Dr Newman leaves the room and Anna slaps Simon telling him to drop the pretence. "I knew you were a good liar but this performance is unbelievable...This is about her isn't it? Do you think she's really worth it?" Simon is very confused. He stops her from leaving and asks about Peter's death. "Of course he's dead," she says, "you killed him".The orderly (Travis) enters the room saying it is time for Simon's MRI and Anna perks up again, giving him a kiss and smile goodbye. Travis says, "Come on, home boy, I'm gonna take you on a little trip." Travis looks like he might be the EMT from earlier.During the MRI Travis asks Simon what would make someone want to kill him. Travis is doubtful that the cause might have been the cleaning chemicals. "The biggest mystery there is is why and how someone dies," he says. Simon is left strapped to the MRI table and someone in scrubs enters but he cannot see who it is. The intruder does not respond to Simon's questions. The person injects Simon with something."Somebody help me!" Simon cries. The room goes black and he wakes up in a hospital room with a couple of other patients. A doctor enters and Simon cries out that someone just tried to kill him. "You wacko!" one of the patients responds. "This is St Jude's hospital," says the doctor and asks him if he knows why he is there. Simon says he was just strapped to an MRI table and the doctor denies that, telling him he was admitted the night before. He is told there is no Dr Newman on the St Jude's staff, that he has no wife and that he was admitted due to a car accident. He is told it is 2000. He runs to the MRI room and lounge and nothing is how it was the day before.The doctor suggests that it is possible he might be suffering from a preoccupied delusion, imagining a story while he was unconscious. Names from the two times sound familiar: The patient in his room in 2000 is Traffid, and the orderly's name in 2002 was Travis. He said he met Dr Newman in 2002, and this doctor's name is Truman. He sees Nurse Clayton arrive and is shocked to see her again as she was in in his dream (from 2002). Nurse Clayton re-emerges with Anna dressed as a nurse. One of the other patient's recognised Simon as the son of a dead senator. Simon becomes angrier and accuses everyone in the room of being in on a conspiracy. "You're not real!" he shouts as he is injected with a sedative.He wakes suddenly and he is back in 2002 strapped into the MRI machine, alone in the room. He sees the intruder in scrubs enter again with a syringe and calls for the doctor who arrives causing the intruder to hide behind a door. The doctor calls for more sedative. He tells Simon that he has been prescribed a drug that has mild psychiatric side effects and that he is paranoid as a result. The doctor and the nurse leave without looking for the intruder and Simon sees him hiding behind the door. He bangs on the table until a nurse appears. We see a closeup of the door handle and a shadow of someone passing back out. The nurse frees Simon who looks behind the door and no-one is there.De Newman does not believe Simon that someone tried to kill him. He shows him the security footage of the MRI room and there is no evidence of an intruder. The doctor says he recalls vaguely a Dr Truman and the orderly says that there is a patient named Traffid on the 5th floor who has been waiting for a heart transplant for 2 years.Simon races up to see Traffid, who remembers him as "Wacko". Simon says that it proves that his dream was actually a memory.In the elevator on the way back to his room alone, the woman (who we know now as Clair), asks him where he has been. She regrets having run off but says that his words had felt cruel. He says it may take some time to remember and Clair says that they have time. "I love you," she says before kissing him passionately. An orderly wheels a body into the elevator and they exchange a few words. He leaves and Clair explains that he doesn't love her. "I know what we were and what you felt. It's just waiting to be remembered. Some things just don't get lost."Simon reaches out for Clair as she leaves and has a flashback of telling her he loves her. They explore a grand old house (presumably his parents') and she says the room they are in is her favourite room. "We always have a choice, Simon," she says before embracing him. In the distance his brother, Peter, looks on, distraught. Back to the present moment, Simon admits to remembering loving Clair. "Sometimes I can't help but think that we're paying for what happened," she says. Simon doesn't know what she means. He runs after her but she has mysteriously disappeared.He returns to his room and it is the year 2000 again - his roommates have returned. Dr Truman says Simon's brother is dead. He is told his brother was with him in the accident. Simon talks to Traffid about life and death.Dr Truman says Peter's fiancée is waiting. Anna is waiting in the dining room and says she has some questions for him about his brother's death, but is called away. Clair arrives - she is Peter's fiancée. He is shocked. He flashes back to greeting his brother. Back in the present 2000, Clair has disappeared and Anna re-emerges. She plays a recording of Peter saying, "Simon did this to me. Simon killed me." Anna tries to convince Simon that he killed his brother. Simon is confused and uncertain. He realises Anna will try to blackmail him into marrying her.He runs out into the hall and suddenly emerges onto the driveway outside of his parents' house. He sees Clair driving down the driveway. He goes back inside and hears voices arguing: his brother and another man who sounds like him. The second man pushes his brother out of a window. Simon looks down on the body of his brother as a man who looks like Simon drags the body away and into a car. As they drive away Simon turns around and is attacked by the MRI room intruder dressed in scrubs.A series of images flashes before Simon's eyes and suddenly he is stabbing something bloody with a pair of scissors. He believes it is the intruder who is trying to kill him. We are back to the time period of 2000. The nurse enters the room and says he has stabbed Traffid. Simon, covered in blood, looks at the body and realises he has, in fact, killed Traffid, and not the intruder. He runs away into the morgue. He see security guards chasing after him on the CCTV. He bumps into Anna who laughs. He runs away and is hounded by the security guards. He runs through a door only to be pushed back by the orderly, Travis, and his shirt has magically been removed of all blood.He goes back up to Traffid's room and finds him alive. Suddenly Traffid starts bleeding at the site of the original wounds given him by old mate. Traffid is soaked in blood. Simon collapses in a corner screaming, "I killed him!"We move Simon;s memory of putting his brother's body in a car on a dark night. He releases the brake and is about to send it off a cliff when the headlights of a truck pull up. He scrambles to stop the car moving, and he drives away. The screen fades to red. "Jesus!" Simon says.He finds the nurse asking her about Peter's death. She says that all his injuries were so severe he had to be put on life support where he died. Anna appears and she is bleeding (similarly to the injury she sustained in their fight in 2000 when she begins blackmailing Simon). She asks if they are clear on the terms of their arrangement. "None of this is going to happen," Simon declares. "The thing is Simon: it happened," she retorts.Simon tries to go back in time to change the past. He goes back to the night with Clair in his parents' house where he told Clair he loved her, in her favourite room. He sits Clair down and says, " We do have a choice...as much as I love you Clair, he is my brother, I just can't do this to him". Peter sees them, distraught. Clair runs after him and Peter tells her to leave. Simon runs out into the driveway after Clair but she drives off. Simon goes back upstairs to his brother.They fight and in trying to stop Peter, Simon pushes him out the window. He drags Peter to the car and stops at the crossroads. Left goes to Vista Point where he tried to get rid of his brother's body the last time and right to the hospital. Simon stops and then turns right.It starts to rain heavily. A car starts to tailgate him, flashing its lights and hooting. "You're gonna be alright, Pete," says Simon, there won't be an accident. Peter wakes up suddenly and distracts Simon who looks away from the road. He looks up again as his car crashes into Clair's car.In the aftermath of the accident, we see the EMT's place a sheet over Clair's body, and an EMT tends to Peter. We see that it is a woman who looks identical to Anna. Blue lights flash atop a vehicle. Another EMT rushes up to Simon and asks if he is ok. "Take it easy now man, I'm going to take you on a little trip." he says.It is day again. Simon walks into his parents' house. He meets Peter inside the room Clair loved so much. Peter says eerily, as he stokes his fire, "I wanted a fire and thought why not? Am learning to live a little." The brothers embrace. They have reconciled. Simon asks Peter to tell him what happened as he has forgotten. "I think you know exactly what happened. It's just too tough for you to face," says Peter. He reveals that on the night of the accident Clair had turned around and was coming back for Simon.We hear Clair's voice repeating, "I can't help but think that we're paying for what happened."Simon looks over at the family photographs and sees a photo of the two boys with their dad: who is identical to Dr Newman. We hear Dr Newman's voice: "There's only one inescapable rule in the game of life, kid. Sooner or later everybody has to stop playing."Simon is confused. He knows something is wrong. "This is your choice, Simon," says Peter, "You need to leave this behind you, Simon, for Clair, for me, for Dad. You died, Simon. We all did. And you can't move on from all of this until you let go. Let it go." Simon cannot. He says he needs another chance.Simon revives with the EMT on the road and we see a flash of Travis. We see a patient walk by him on the way in to the emergency room and we see a flash of Traffid. We see a flash of the female EMT and a flash of Anna.Simon is looking down on his body from the ceiling as he floats away."It's your choice, Simon, where you go."The doctor declares the time of death: Simon stops breathing at 20:00. Time of death 20:02.Simon zooms back into his body and we are back at the first scene of the movie. Simon awakens with a start and the doctor prescribes him 5mg of diazepam.The doctor tells him where he is and says:"You died, Mr Cable."

Review: It's obvious that there are mistakes and flaws throughout the script and it's a shame, because, as I've said, unlike a lot of other movies where the story is already set up for an impossible, unbelievable ending, "The I Inside" had a more than promising start.
The familiar theme of going back to the past to "fix" certain wrongs is offered here with an engaging plot and a bang-up twist.Simon Cable is a wealthy young man who wakes up in a hospital after some kind of accident in 2002, supposedly due to wood refinishing fumes.
Well, this is a well-wrought presentation of the basic premise, with a possible murder and wife/mistress conflict, some good editing, and more than respectable acting, especially from Ryan Phillipe (Simon), who seems to be blossoming as an actor, or at least is getting better roles.
However, watch for Stephen Graham's portrayal of particularly crabby heart patient Travitt in the year 2000 scenes.In any event, go into this film with an open mind, and try not to compare it to others of its genre, most recently "The Butterfly Effect." The last few minutes of the film will make you rethink your comparisons anyway and leave you with a new confusion worth discussing at your favorite coffeehouse afterwards..
And to a lesser extent, MEMENTO, which is fun on the first watch, but bored me on the second, since no new clues are revealed.THE I INSIDE give more answers at the end than OLDBOY or MULHOLLAND DRIVE, but it is still a fascinating film.This is is Ryan Phillippe's most challenging role, and he does an excellent job, but the standout for me was Piper Perabo-- she went through some tricky personality quirks (I'm purposely leaving things vague) which added to the mystery..
The first two-thirds of "The I Inside" are fantastic: very intriguing and engaging, recalls "The Butterfly Effect", "Jacob's Ladder" and "identity", just to mention three similar movies.
The situation of Simon Cable resuscitated without memory in the hospital in two different years is disclosed like a puzzle, and I was mesmerized with this film.
Like the main character, you're thrown in the story with no real point of reference and it takes some adjusting.But that's also what makes the movie interesting.
The ending can be perceived as weak if you're watching it like a thriller but if you're looking at it from a psychological point of view, it's really impressive what our minds can do and the mysteries still to unlock in our own brains.The acting is pretty good (except Piper Perabo who is not good enough to be creepy or believable as anything else than a goodie-2-shoes) and the direction is SUPERB.Don't misunderstand, the tension IS there so you'll get your thrills but it's not a mystery movie so much as a psychological drama about denial and acceptance.
If you understand it you'll love it!Not a film for those wanting to be spoon fed.At first look it's "Egads not that kind of stuff again!" But it's much more than Mememto, Butterfly Effect, Dead End, Sixth Sense or other great movie of (similar?) "paranormal" genre.This is truly original and is probably closer to only one of the above mentioned movies.
The first couple of "switches" between time-lines succeeded at dis-orientating and jolting the audience admirably, but after some meandering, the "switches" become relatively tedious and gratuitous, and I felt that they did little to further the plot.The periphery characters all do a sterling job at providing a sense of unease (Piper Perabo is pretty outstanding), but after Simon has "switched" years several times, I found it difficult to retain my attention.
By the final denouement, I was past caring, and noticed only with a passing interest that the ending was incredibly similar to another memory-loss psychological thriller from the mid-nineties.Perhaps I just watched too many films of this sort for my own good?
There is an explanation; but you're so tired by the time it arrives that you don't want to figure out anything.Tiring is one of the best words to define "The I Inside"; and it is impossible not to compare it with "The Butterfly Effect", a film where you don't want to get to the end.
I'm surprised that some user comments found "The I Inside" even marginally watchable; there may be some star attraction in Sarah Polley or Ryan Philippe, but they are both ill used, and it is difficult for me, at least, to imagine genuine tears falling from Philippe's eyes as he mourns his existential condition with lines like, "This can't be --expletive deleted-- true!" and a moment later (as we switch to existential condition #2) "This can't be --another expletive-- happening!" (A reflective person, one gathers, this character apparently isn't.) Indeed, the action of the film (such as there is) is so preposterous, one can't imagine it happening anyway; but then this film knows not whether it is sci-fi or thriller, mystery or psychological drama -- no wonder the audience is reduced to focusing on its stars rather than on what they say or do as characters.
Just like the TV series "Lost", it seems all exciting while you watch and wait anxiously for the ending, which is supposed to explain everything, but when it ends, nothing is explained.The whole point to movies like this is the ending which is usually a really fascinating twist, explaining why things happened the way that they did, e.g.
Just like the runner "The I Inside" begins with lot of promise to later become uninteresting and dull, almost laughable at parts.It got me completely hooked at first but then little by little the lack of suspense prevented the movie from being nice to follow and the confusion towards the ending messed up the whole thing big time.
One of the writers was the same one who wrote the amazing "Identity" with John Cusack and a great cast involved in a mysterious and surprising plot with a twisted ending that haunts me for years.
We see the struggling of Simon from his inner perspective, in a 'Beautiful Mind' style, jumping back and forth in time 'The Butterfly Effect' style, meeting people he does not remember to know them 'The Bourne Identity' style and watching himself from the outside doing things he doesn't willing to do.At the beginning, it was interesting to me to do these jumps and to figure out the whos, the whys, but after the first half of the film, I just got tired to keep track of.
This is a pity, while the movie would be about to take the journey with the main character, Simon, and solve the mystery with him, to be an entertaining thriller the storyline should have been more complex, to be a psycho-drama, characters and Simon's inner process should have been more sophisticated; the film was not boring to me, but not exciting either.
To me thats not the way you do it.They wanted to make the ending a surprise so they don't use the truth.Thats all you really have to know but since they wont let me post a comment unless it is at least ten lines I'll tell you a little more.It starts out with a guy in a hospital he is just waking up.He finds out that he lost the memory of his last two years and that right there p_i.s.s.e_d me off because if you have short term memory loss you forget what happen to you an hour ago.And it just gets worse from there believe me spare yourself the pain and do not watch this movie..
A puzzle-box movie, similar to rather Butterfly Effect than Memento.Mostly it turns you on in the beginning, sliding through the story, keeping you thinking - when starts the thrill.
Some good moments - similar to the Butterfly Effect.Sarah Polley reminded me her next movie - My Life Without Me - all the time.
I don't know about movies in Germany, but here in the United States, if you're going to release a jumpy, confusing film, you'd had better make the story worth while.
"When Simon (Ryan Phillippe) awakens in the hospital after surviving a near-fatal accident, amnesia has erased the last two years from his memory.
Soon, he starts to uncover the truth behind his brother's death and unravel the unbelievable turns his life has taken" Actually (or perhaps not), Mr. Phillippe falls in love with his estranged brother's fiancée (Ms. Polley), which results in a violent confrontation - and, an even more tragic car accident, involving all three.
The I Inside is a complex movie and while some may dislike it for it's complicating story lines others may just because of it.When Simon(Ryan Phillippe:Cruel intentions,Gosford Park) awakens in the hospital after a near death experience, amnesia has erased the past two years of his memory.
He soon suspects that someone in the hospital is trying to kill him--and then finds himself in the same hospital two years earlier, with the ability to bounce back and forth between the two time periods.Although it sounds like something that has been done many times recently, the first half of this movie is actually suspenseful and engaging.
The fact that Simon, the main protagonist, is dead at the end of the movie is not a clue to the story, it's rather the RESULT of the different choices he makes while time-travelling to the past.What I want to say is: according to me, the time-travelling is not some fantasy by someone in a coma, or someone in the process of dying.
The first time Simon, who is warped back to the past, sees himself getting involved in a struggle with his brother, which leads to Peter's unfortunate death.
I guess this phonecall is supposed to be from Claire, who has just left the house and is calling that she is on her way back.Actually, the fact that no one answers the phone in both cases might be exactly the reason why the fateful car crash appears in both scenarios (although in one of the scenarios, Simon survives and in the other, he doesn't): Claire decides to return because she is getting worried about Simon and/or Peter.Anyway, there are a lot more intriguing things in this movie that I cannot even discuss here.
I'm giving it a 10 nonetheless, not because I think it is worth a 10 (I would give it a 7 or 8 or so), but because I find the general ratings given here ridiculously low (There's more to rating movies than only giving a 1 or a 10, people...).This is a haunting movie with a really nice, twisted plot, a lot of suspense (especially in the first part of the movie), overall decent acting (I thought the character of Anna and the guy waiting for a heart transplantation were done especially well), but rather uninspired music (although the sound effects are nicely done).
I absolutely hated The I Inside for numerous reasons, one being how poorly executed it was as well as confusing but the main reason why I thought this movie was utter garbage and worth a mere 2 stars was the fact that once the ending reveals the truth behind the madness of the film it is quite clear that the majority of the plot and movie was contrived and pointless.The ending of the film brings the realization that Simon Cable (Phillipe) died along with his brother and his brother's fiancé, Claire in a car accident in 2000 and because he can simply not accept what happened and feels responsible for the other deaths, he keeps going back in time in his mind to try and change what happened and save them.
Such a concept was too simple for The I Inside so they concocted a completely pointless plot where the character of Simon wakes up in the year 2002 after supposedly being poisoned by his wife, Anna and has no memory of the last 2 years.
The movie amps up the mystery and intrigue when Simon, while wandering around the hospital somehow finds himself entering the year 2000.
The movie continually shifts from the year 2002 to the year 2000 and back again in the hospital while simultaneously having Simon return to his home in the year 2000 to try and change events that led to the car accident that in his mind, only killed his brother.
The entire 'time traveling' between the years 2002 and 2000, having things happen to people in 2000 and then have it show up in 2002 was, in the end, pointless and had NOTHING to do with the actual plot of Simon not accepting his death from the car accident in 2000 and wanting to go back in time to try and change the outcome.
As for the answer of why the year 2002, the movie tries to justify that entire plot by making Simon's time of death in 2000, at 20:02 as if that is why he keeps waking up 2 years after the accident and then has to shift between the years 2002 and 2000 but it's weak at best.
What solidified it for me was the fact that his father was his doctor in 2002 and the puzzle he was putting together in the lobby turned out to be of a photo of him, his brother and his father that we see at the end at the brother's house.2 stars - the actual movie is confusing, poorly directed and poorly edited and once you find out that the entire 2002 time traveling to the year 2000 was completely unnecessary, and just a stunt to try and make the film interesting, it's hard to not see it as complete rubbish..
Simon (Ryan Phillippe) wakes up in a hospital with no memory of how he got there and no memory of the last two years of his life.
Nonetheless, "The I Inside" is a great psychological suspense film and I highly recommend it.WARNING: SPOILERSSome seem confused about the nature of Mr. Travati, Simon's wisecracking hospital roommate" and the reason for the "2002".
I've read some posts, I didn't have time to read them all, and I did have some questions, but after writing them down, I've made my thoughts on how this story makes sense.It's a man who dies, and his spirit runs through the scenarios that could of prevented his death, but his ego, spared relevant memories to realize the consequences of escaping his own death, leads the ego to act in order of what actually happened, and this could be said to be in spite of the true nature of his spirit, leaving the spirit to accept that death is the order the ego would take over living, since living with the consequences of escaping death would not satisfy the ego.
They are in the old, large house they had jointly inherited when their parents died and there was some issue with the disposition of the property.While the whole concept for this movie seems interesting, overall I didn't enjoy it because it was just too difficult to follow, for the situations revealed at the end.SPOILERS: As it turned out, Simon was in fact no longer alive, but spiritually had not let go of the complications in his life.
I rented the I inside the other day and was intrigued from start to finish.I did have to re-watch parts to understand it but ended up with more questions.
Like another person said on here,i'm surprised this movie wasn't in theater's.It would have been cool seeing it on a big screen,and Ryan Phillippe's performance blew me away.He really made me believe how tortured the character of Simon was right up until the end.
The story was slowly coming together and the mystery was solved but confused about the character of Anna and why she was even in it.First she's his wife,then she's a nursing student,and then a blackmailer.Her character in the whole story just did not fit.I understood at the end how all the other characters fit in to what was going on.At the end each person in the hospital,both doctors(including his own father as one),his brother and his lover Claire who was his brother's wife had a part in Simon's head as he was wanting to go back to the past and make things right but it was too late.
I have seen other movies like this before like the movie dead end,but I thought the ending of the I inside was more real.He was either in a coma for 2 years and while under imagined all the scenarios of bettering his life and making up for the people he wronged,or was stuck in hell tortured with never ending memories of what he did while he watched with his own eyes the sins he committed.And his guilt was making him see how he would change things if he had another chance.
This movie showed some potential with time travel and mysterious memory loss, however the plot never really unfolds and the hospital suspense scenes feel totally forced and bland.None of the characters really develop past the basic storyline which is poor at best, although the acting is OK.
"the I inside" tries hard to be intelligent and mysterious but is ultimately uninteresting but of course you don't find that out until the end of the movie...where you are left scratching your head and disappointed.AVOID!!!.
Neither of Simon (Phillippe) i suppose due to the script and director, Dr. Newman (Rea), Anna (Perabo), Claire (Polley) or Peter (Leonard) could act, i think the only good actors in this movie was Mr. Travit(Lang) the patient and Nurse Clayton (Ayola).
Well, the ending made no sense and so at that point I gave up on the show and came to IMDb. After reading the posts here and the tremendous amount of confusion this movie caused, I have no interest in watching it all the way through.
From here Simon starts to question his past and the reasons he got into the hospital.