Review: Something In The Dirt

Image courtesy of XYZ Films.

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead's low-budget sci-fi film "Something in the Dirt" - which has the paranoia of an episode of "The X Files" but the visual style and budget of a Shane Carruth movie - is, in some ways, a perfect movie for the present moment. Boasting a cast of (mostly) two and only a few locations, the film primarily features two men who - after having stumbled upon some type of otherworldly element in one of their apartments in Los Angeles - go down the rabbit hole of paranoia and conspiracy theories.

The film's duo first meets as Levi (Benson), a bartender with a sketchy criminal past that only slowly reveals itself, is moving into his second-floor apartment and runs into John (Moorhead), a gay evangelical Christian who is recently divorced, outside the building. As the latter helps the former move his few belongings into the apartment, a strange thing happens: A quartz crystal object in Levi's apartment begins emitting light and levitating on its own.

The two men - who seemingly have little else to do - decide to make a documentary film about the strange goings-on in Levi's apartment. This is occasionally interspersed with interviews of people who apparently got involved in the making of the documentary, although we never see them outside of the interview format and, as a result, their presence isn't particularly necessary and doesn't add anything to the overall film.

As Levi and John attempt to figure out what exactly is causing the strange phenomena in the apartment - that is, when they're not debating the title of their documentary - their relationship begins to fracture. First, John finds out some details about Levi's troubled past, while John himself makes some proclamations about the church he attends that creep Levi out. 

"Something in the Dirt" finds most of its success when it focuses on the eerie occurrences in the apartment and emphasizes surreal imagery - a very low-flying plane, a coyote on a hilltop, some old movie clips, smoke in the L.A. hills - but occasionally loses its grip when Levi and John go off on their many tangents about what they think is happening - is it aliens? some sort of sacrificial rite involving a cult? another dimension? Etc., etc.

At one point, Levi says, "You go your whole life thinking certain things will always be a mystery" - citing, for example, the Bermuda Triangle or the identity of Jack the Ripper - and the film is most interesting when it delves into the obsession of its characters that they must solve this particular mystery. However, the endless theories become less intriguing and more confusing as they go along.

Moorhead and Benson have long been making low-budget sci-fi thrillers with heady hooks - "The Endless" is, in my opinion, their best to date. "Something in the Dirt" has some memorable scenes, an unsettling atmosphere and decent work from its directors/leading actors. It ends on a mysterious note and a haunting image that isn't quite explained, but to the film's benefit rather than its detriment. 

However, it's a little overlong considering that it's mostly two guys sitting around theorizing about - and occasionally being interrupted by - strange phenomena. It's probably unlike most other science fiction films you've seen, although its directing pair's earlier works are better examples of this subgenre of talkative sci-fi thrillers.