SOMETHING IN THE DIRT (REVIEW)

Dir. Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead

Reviewer. Martyn Wakefield

From Moorhead and Benson comes another mindfuck of cinema that reverts any expectation to the point where tagging their name to any project going forward means absolutely nothing but a head scratching couple of hours both during and after the films credits.

This time round, both writers/directors return to acting as neighbours investigating a phenomenon in an abandoned home in LA that could mean the end of the world.

Filmed during that black hole in time known as the pandemic, SOMETHING IN THE DIRT is a mockumentary exploring their relationship as they did deeper into a conspiracy that goes beyond the four walls of their home. Choppingly edited with re-enactments, interview footage and old camera images, it's an effective film that reminisces how the found footage genre can really work at sucking you in to believing what is real and what is played out in front of the screen.

An interesting dynamic that projects to the two leads roping each other in, deeper and deeper until the point of no return. While it's an effective thriller exploring a haunting experience, it is much better at being a character study of two people being manipulative in the demeanour of a cult like leadership, taking ones weakness at their lowest point and playing on it to their own gain. In that aspect, SOMETHING IN THE DIRT has much more to offer.

On the surface, the film is a nice escape that scratches an itch without giving much to be scared about, as a character study, it's a focal point for discussion of how cults and conspiracy theorists garner their following. Something far more terrifying.