It Is In Us All

Storywise, Campbell-Hughes ably plays audiences like a harp. The plot often lulls those watching into a false sense of complacency before upending the expected resolution. In this way, the filmmaker keeps the narrative fresh and unpredictable through the bitter end.

Jarvis Cosmo is astounding in this examination of personal loss and family trauma.

It Is in Us All, a hyper-visceral portrayal of manhood in its purest unrestrained form, is anchored by the force-of-nature turn from its superlative star Cosmo Jarvis. Intoxicating to the senses, this film boasts an indomitable vitality, a zest for life so uncontainable it brims with mortal danger.

If as a thriller, the cryptic It Is in Us All, doesn’t thrill quite enough, as an examination of the kind of perverse death-obsession that unloved, unhappy, estranged boys can develop, it is a darkly provocative and promising debut mood-piece from Campbell-Hughes.

It Is In Us All demonstrates a sure directorial hand when it comes to evoking a sense of place and community, but falters slightly in the writing and the characterisation – for all Jarvis’s intriguingly complex work, the increasingly nihilistic character he plays remains something of a conundrum throughout.

Nuanced yet ambiguous, and imbued with raw emotion and care, Campbell-Hughes crafts a worthwhile story that digs into the aftermath of a near-death experience.

It Is In Us All is slight, sombre, and something of a slog, but features another strong turn from Cosmo Jarvis – and is still a positive indication of Campbell-Hughes’ potential behind the camera.