Porn Isn’t ‘Taboo’

Sometimes it’s on the outside what matters, but for Sundance breakout film “It’s What’s Inside,” writer-director Greg Jardin wanted to dismantle the aesthetics of a porn-fueled social media world.

Jardin’s feature debut thriller became the biggest sale of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival so far after Netflix acquired the feature for $17 million. The movie follows the fallout of a rehearsal dinner that descends into an existential nightmare when an estranged friend shows up with a mysterious suitcase.

During the IndieWire Studio at Sundance, presented by Dropbox, Jardin explained how the film is uniquely relevant to the intersection of sex and modern technology.

“At the core, the movie is sort of about the male gaze and the effect of the over-sexualization of media and our consumption of that, how that affects relationships,” Jardin said. “It’s something I’ve thought a lot about in my adult life.”

Jardin cited the role of porn in his own personal life, saying, “It’s just sort of this thing that we don’t really think about that much and it’s considered taboo to even talk about, but porn is a billion dollar industry. I just thought about how it’s affected my relationships and how sometimes I’ve ignored people for things that aren’t really real and how I don’t want to do that anymore…It makes people desire something that’s not even real.”

Actor James Morosini added that “It’s What’s Inside” led to…