This union of cultural assimilation and horror may offer more obfuscation than genuine frights from a high school setting. Though moments at a school locker and a swing set can be a bit unnerving.
Suri’s not really that bad as a good-natured teen who’s too late to notice that she’s involved in more peril than anticipated.
Abduction and torment are par for the course as eyes roll and heads turn in what Neds to b ensnared like a ‘genie in a bottle.’
Sam and estranged, rather depressed friend Tamira (Mohana Krishnan) will hesitantly realized the need for one another. Given the nature of the ‘Pishach’ a flesh-eating demon which has ties to Hindu/Buddhist mythology.
To incorporate its motif into events that can be a bit hyperactive and savage (given the film’s rating) the promise of a premise utilizing culture never really comes to fruition with the characters not inhabiting the genre in convincing ways.
Yet, there can be some spark to the tremolos Sam/Tamara dynamic in embracing what one may be distancing place. Gage Marsh’s Russ can be likeable enough as classmate Russ who Sam’s interested in. Though Betty Gabriel of “Get Out” as instructor Joyce evinces considerable gravitas and sympathy in this craziness initially trying to have Sam lift Tamira out of her deeply withdrawn state. It Lives for all of its potential intrigue just makes it hard to get inside of it in spite of its resettable efforts for representation.