Starring Guy Pearce and 'Shogun' Alum Cosmo Jarvis, 'Inside' Is One of 2025's Must-See Australian Films — and It Has a Trailer
After winning the short film Palme d'Or in 2018, Australian director Charles Williams makes his feature debut with this prison-set crime thriller.
When Inside popped up on Australia's film festival circuit in 2024, including at the Melbourne International Film Festival, SXSW Sydney Screen Fest and Brisbane International Film Festival, it was instantly one of the must-see homegrown titles doing the rounds. If you didn't catch it then, the Guy Pearce (The Clearing)-, Cosmo Jarvis (Shōgun)- and Toby Wallace (The Bikeriders)-starring thriller should be at the top of your to-watch list in 2025 when it hits local cinemas in February — and it has just dropped its trailer to demonstrate why.
Fresh from earning a well-deserved Golden Globe nomination for The Brutalist — and likely on track for an Oscar nomination for the same role, too — Guy Pearce (The Clearing) leads the prison-set film as Warren Murfett, an inmate on the cusp of parole. As he's preparing for potentially earning his freedom, he's asked to take Mel Blight (Vincent Miller, Plum) under his wing after the latter is transferred from juvenile detention to adult prison. Also giving the newcomer a guiding hand is the infamous and widely despised Mark Shepard (Cosmo Jarvis, Shōgun).
Inside doesn't just bring the three men together in a powderkeg of a location; it immerses them in a violent plot that could change each of their lives forever, all while thoughtfully and empathetically pondering choices, repercussions, and the impact of inherited damage and trauma.
Also among the cast: Toby Wallace (The Bikeriders), Chloé Hayden (Heartbreak High) and Michael Logo (Colin From Accounts), with the film boasting impressive names on- and off-screen. Inside marks the feature debut of writer/director Charles Williams, who won the 2018 short film Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for the also-excellent All These Creatures. The Stranger and Acute Misfortune filmmaker Thomas M Wright is onboard, too, as an executive producer.
"Inside is a movie that's been with me in some form or another for the better part of a decade. I wanted to make the kind of film that resonated with me growing up. Movies that you could get lost in, often uncovering very specific worlds and complicated characters," explains Williams.
"They felt very real but also oddly transporting and almost spiritual — while still being visceral, cinematic experiences for the big screen. It's been such an honour to collaborate with this incredible cast and crew to bring Inside to life."
Check out the trailer for Inside below:
Inside releases in Australian cinemas on Thursday, February 27, 2025.
Images: Mathew Lynn.
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