Christmas Entitlement in ‘Inside’ and ‘Better Watch Out’
American philosopher Robert Nozick delineated the terms for what he calls entitlement theory. He conceptualizes entitlement as just when a person acquires a holding through a principle of justice (unowned and natural property), transfer (voluntary exchange), or rectification of injustice (compensation for past transgressions). One of the first two must be met for equitable entitlement. The third exists to litigate for those who don’t follow the rules (those who steal or enslave). It might seem redundant. But it’s worth noting that there are genuine parameters for both property and acquisition. There are not just legal precedents, but philosophical ones.
The horror genre, as arbiter of sin and misdoing, often frames its villains and victims as those seeking what they’re not entitled to. From Pet Sematary to adaptations of The Monkey’s Paw, horror is abounding with philosophical retribution for the overentitled. There is, curiously, an additional theory, one aptly titled “consumer entitlement”. It interrogates levels of entitlement among consumers at different levels and in different venues (buying groceries versus a designer bag). Consumer entitlement, as many might imagine, increases considerably during the holiday season.
Related: These 10 Holiday Horror Titles Should be on Your Shortlist
Both Chris Peckover’s Better Watch Out and Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo’s Inside catechize Christmas entitlement. In both respectively, central antagonists Luke and La Femme (the woman), feel specifically entitled to a woman’s body. While the #MeToo movement existed long before the widespread sexual-abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein in early October 2017, both Inside and Better Watch Out were developed and released before the scope of #MeToo fully entered the collective cultural consciousness.
In the context of widespread and ongoing coverage of sexual harassment, especially in Hollywood, it’s difficult not to see the parallels between both Inside and Better Watch Out, the broader cultural scope, and entitlement writ large. In Inside, Sarah Scarangella (Alysson Paradis) is targeted by La Femme (Béatrice Dalle) after the woman loses her husband in an auto accident. On Christmas Eve, she breaks into Sarah’s home with the intent of, quite literally, stealing her unborn child.
In Better Watch Out, Luke (Levi Miller) covets his babysitter, Ashley (Olivia DeJonge). He hopes to win her heart by staging a home invasion a few days before Christmas. His goal? That he might “rescue” her and incite the heroic adoration of old Hollywood adventures. When it backfires and she is rightfully– and royally– pissed, he knocks her out and ties her up. He then spends the remainder of the evening psychologically torturing her, unable to accept that she simply isn’t interested.
Related: ‘Dead End’ Is The Ultimate Forgotten Christmas Horror Movie
Both are deeply disturbing, with Inside remaining one of the most violent, visceral horror movies ever made and Better Watch Out, despite its “horror-comedy” moniker, disturbing far more often than it elicits laughs. Indeed, the central antagonists, both man and woman, feel entitled to something that is not theirs. That something– not incidentally– is a woman or an extension of one. Women, borrowing the language of philosopher John Locke, have a natural right to both their own bodies and anything– including a child– it might produce. There is autonomy and agency there, a theme similarly explored in another Christmas horror classic– Bob Clark’s Black Christmas.
It’s no coincidence that horror, but more specifically Christmas horror, is interested in litigating the excesses of entitlement and the violence and torment it cultivates when left unchecked. Ashley survives her ordeal while Sarah doesn’t. But both– by film’s end– are battered and bruised, permanently scarred from the horror they endured under the soft glow of Christmas lights. It’s a season that breeds competitive excess with artificial scarcity and the exploitation of labor. It fuels entitlement to sell more at the expense of workers on a global scale.
When entitlement is conceptualized as a game, though– something that can be won– it becomes more insidious than it already was, seeping into other realms. Resultantly, people feel entitled to not just things, but people and services. Entitled to a cute babysitter or someone else’s child. Jennifer Aniston, commenting on Harvey Weinstein, remarked his behavior was indicative of “gross entitlement.”
Related: ‘Calvaire’ Makes Christmas Scary, and Disturbing, Again [Rotten Outlook]
This does, of course, far exceed what movies like Inside and Better Watch Out can contend. They certainly are not demonstrative of this behavior writ large, what motivates and inspires this kind of toxic, violent entitlement. They are genre movies with purpose, but still genre movies, one with jolts and scares, jabs and stabs, and behavior that strains credulity for narrative purposes.
Yet, both are still worth watching this holiday season. As reflections of our current times, the perpetuation of violence against women, and the steady influx of allegations against executives and celebrities, they are almost profoundly relevant. They’re just movies, yes. But in a holiday season already grappling with excess of its own, they’re maybe just a little more than that. This holiday season, for many people, a rectification of injustice seems to be the only gift worth giving.
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