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‘In the Earth’ Review – An Unnerving Hallucinogenic Nightmare

By Dom Fisher
April 19, 2021
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Synopsis:

As the world searches for a cure to a disastrous virus, a scientist and park scout venture deep in the forest for a routine equipment run. Through the night, their journey becomes a terrifying voyage through the heart of darkness, the forest coming to life around them.

A really good horror film will not only send chills up your spine but will elicit deep thought caused by darkly conceptualizing a real-life occurrence or ideology. Yeah, you can make a highly entertaining slasher film, but if it doesn’t have a good amount of substance to pair with the frights, it may just be forgotten. Unless it lives in the realm of torture porn and that gets remembered for different reasons, but I digress. Substance lasts.

“Everything seems to just keep us here”

Feeling like something out of the Ari Aster playbook, Ben Wheatley’s In the Earth is an unnerving hallucinogenic nightmare. The 2021 Sundance Selection fits into multiple pockets of horror: eco, surreal, experimental, and a dash of psychological, this film is one that will stay with you. Not only because of its slight gore, haunting soundscape, and its kaleidoscope of terror but its underlying message. Exploring the mental anguish and anxiety during and post-pandemic, the story is something we can all latch onto. Beginning with an ominous tone and keeping that same energy throughout, the film gets increasingly darker and more psychedelic as it progresses. With characters that feel more realistic and grounded than we are used to getting in horror, the actions and outcomes that take place have a level of believability that’s refreshing.

I believe this is a film that is better appreciated with a second watch. The first watch catches you by surprise as you are not prepared for what you are about to see. But with the second viewing, it’s easier to focus on some of its themes and appreciate the nightmarish visuals and the fact that this was shot in only 15 days. While the film may feel a bit confusing at times, it ends in a way that makes sense and isn’t entirely predictable. Nothing makes the forest more terrifying than when an obsessed nutjob wants to kill you and the forest itself won’t let you escape. Its haunting score, amazing cinematography, unique feel makes this a film worth watching. I enjoyed the film but enjoyed it more the second time. Its rewatchability is medium-high.

Plot & Pace

After months of quarantining, Martin, a scientist arrives at an outpost in order to do environmental work in the forest. Before he sets off into the wilderness with Alma, his guide, he learns of the local folktale that equates to the spirit of the woods. He also learns of a group that recently went out and got lost. As the duo venture out, things begin calmly but quickly take a turn for the sinister. What Alma doesn’t know is that Martin hasn’t been completely honest as to why he came. As the two end up in the clutches of a sadistic fanatic, they eventually learn that their captor isn’t the only thing they have to fear. It soon becomes a fight to stay alive and escape a forest that won’t let go.

Because of the film’s unique and refreshing unpredictability, the films flew by for me.

Characters & Chemistry

Ellora Torchia and Joel Fry did amazing jobs as Alma and Martin, respectively. Alma is level-headed and resourceful, while Martin is highly intelligent and tougher than he looks. I enjoyed how these two strangers had to come together to help each other survive. Between Zach (Reece Shearsmith) and Olivia (Hayley Squires), I don’t know who is more creepy. Zach definitely embodies the film’s overt insanity while Olivia is the sleeper. However, the forest may be the most wicked of them all.

In the Earth releases in theaters on April 16, 2021. Stay safe and enjoy.