Something in the Dirt is the latest feature film from Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (best known for Spring and The Endless), and it may be their best yet. In addition to writing and directing, the two men star as Levi and John, neighbors in the same dilapidated Los Angeles apartment complex who bear witness to strange happenings indeed.
From the film’ start, the chaos of LA plays in the background as a modern dystopia, with wild fires, planes taking off from LAX, sirens and sunshine. The tone is set immediately as the two characters meet; tender, quirky and troubled Levi (Benson), and the composed and unnerving John (Morehead). Their initial conversation is rambling but controlled, full of cross-talk and musings and allusions to their inner selves. The new friends are getting to know each other, but we know they are more than what they seem. Soon, they witness a paranormal occurrence in Levi’s new apartment and discover an opportunity to film and take advantage of this unbelievable situation. As they try and capture the phenomenon on video, Levi grows more unnerved and more frightened, while John grows darker and greedier. The crisis blooms into more strange events that grow larger than Levi and John can comprehend.
Something in the Dirt recalls such indie films as Primer, Coherence, and even Memento, low-budget, brilliantly-crafted films that seem at once organic and carefully constructed. The premise grows increasingly complex, sometimes past the viewers understanding, urging those watching to try and figure out what is really happening. Danger lurks around the corner, and things are pushed too far. Man tries to conquer a grand force and begins to lose control; his personal foibles bring him down in the face of something beyond his pay grade. This compelling journey plays out in the relentless mystery familiar to fans of the writer-directors, with a constant, progressing tension that grips the viewer and doesn’t let go.
Morehead and Benson are dazzling together, writing and conveying these clever, funny, and tragic characters that are deeply specific and always off-kilter. Levi and John carry both pain and humor, yearning and selfishness. Their dynamic is full of subtle tension that spills over into toxicity, played out through sharp dialogue. Much of the film is just Levi and John talking in allusions and circles while strange things happen around them. They are the heart of the film, with supernatural moments serving as metaphors for their own psychological depths.
Humor and strangeness are woven throughout, much like this year’s excellent, bonkers sci-fi film, Everything Everywhere All at Once; quick cuts, unexpected flashes of footage and images, recreations of the characters’ thoughts and theories play like a psychedelic and absurd journey. The visuals flash from bright and unexpected diagrams to documentary footage to grainy footage to images of space; the constant stream of building evidence, pieced together in rapid editing, builds the film’s tension.
What makes this film most unnerving is the unknown origin of the supernatural phenomenon. It is not just a mystery of one event, but multiple events that begin to overwhelm Levi and John, as well as the viewer. The phenomenon mixes with conspiracy theories that draw in Levi and John, as well as us; soon we begin to believe the entire world is centered around these two characters. Early on, we discover all of this is framed within a documentary that they attempted to create, but the experts being interviewed seem disbelieving. Can we believe them, or Levi and John?
Something in the Dirt is an entirely original film, combining rapid, quirky dialogue and editing with slow, strange moments of unreality as well as subtle characterization. Levi and John can’t trust reality, and neither can the viewer. The film is brilliantly layered, building to a relentless, tense and unnerving mystery.
Photo courtesy of XYZ Films
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