‘It Is In Us All’ Movie Review [SXSW 2022]: Cosmo Jarvis Excels in Underwhelming Drama
It Is In Us All is a slow and haunting drama that wants its audience to absorb it little by little. Writer/director Antonia Campbell-Hughes explores the complex emotions intertwined with tragedy and regret, which actor Cosmo Jarvis elevates. However, It Is In Us All has a certain coldness and ambiguity to it that makes it feel emotionally inaccessible.
‘It Is In Us All’ begins with a tragic car accident
Hamish (Jarvis) heads to a rural area where his mother was born. He feels her presence as he approaches the land, but gets into a gnarly car accident along the way. Hamish’s body is badly wounded, but he’s in better shape than the 15-year-old boy in the other car who died. However, Hamish is about to face the teenager’s world head-on.
It Is In Us All picks up as Hamish plans to check out the house that his late-Aunt he never met left for him. As a result, he befriends the other teenager involved in the accident named Evan (Rhys Mannion). Their connection continues to grow, but they can’t run from their own truths forever.
Writer/director Antonia Campbell-Hughes explores loneliness, guilt, and regret
It Is In Us All never spoon-feeds any major answers to the audience. Hamish is a defensive man, who feels uncomfortable sharing information about himself. He even displays discomfort in sharing any knowledge about his mother’s hometown before the accident. He’s often soft-spoken, but it’s clear that there’s a lot of emotion boiling underneath the surface.
Hamish instantly feels a connection with his mother’s side of the family once he enters this rural landscape. She never really talked about these lands, but he yearns to understand more about her. Other folks in town quickly realize who he is and remember his mother and aunt rather well. He’s no stranger to them, but he’s still figuring out his place here.
It Is In Us All has a particular approach to death. There’s a certain fear attached to it, especially when discussing the 15-year-old’s death. However, Hamish and Evan also talk about it in a euphoric fashion that has sexually-charged energy behind it. Hamish endures feelings of loneliness, guilt, and regret as a result of the boy’s death, but it’s through Evan that he’s able to finally confront those demons.
‘It Is In Us All’ doesn’t quite reach the emotional heights that it should
Campbell-Hughes and cinematographer Piers McGrail present gorgeous landscapes. It Is In Us All consistently holds a haunting visual aesthetic that successfully captures Hamish’s state of mind. He goes from moments of extreme highs to radical lows, as he tries to make sense of how he should move forward with his life.
It Is In Us All is uncompromising when it comes to the dark subject matter. There’s a particularly gruesome scene involving a wound after his accident. Campbell-Hughes instills a visual physicality to the movie, but not only in its gross-out moments. The film holds a focus on dance and movement, further exploring the highs and lows of Hamish’s journey.
Jarvis delivers a powerful central performance that captures the film’s major themes. He’s consistently believable and captivating as a man wrestling with feelings of guilt and regret. It’s a quiet performance that requires a certain subtleness that simultaneously hints at more occurring underneath the surface. Jarvis more than succeeds.
It Is In Us All does a lot right, but it constantly holds its characters at an arm’s length. Campbell-Hughes leaves a lot of simple narrative questions left unanswered. As a result, it’s difficult to develop feelings for these characters and Hamish’s clear sexual tension with Evan. It Is In Us All is overly ambiguous and cold storytelling that ignores the most fascinating elements of Hamish’s journey.
