14 Apr In the Earth Review

IN THE EARTH

dir. Ben Wheatley, starring Joel Fry, Reece Shearsmith, Hayley Squires, and Ellora Torchia

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.

Fresh off the disastrous Hitchcock remake of Rebecca earlier in the year, writer/director Ben Wheatley returns to form with In the Earth, a thriller that is equal parts Annihilation and Midsommar, with a dash of 2001: A Space Odyssey sprinkled in for good measure. In a world that’s reeling from its own global virus, Dr. Martin Lowery arrives at a lodge, a waypoint for Lowery before teaming up with park ranger Alma to go locate a scientist deep within the forest who’s been long since missing. The journey into the forest quickly transitions from a simple mission to a fight for survival as the travelers are beset upon by both nature and man. What starts as a creepy science fiction film eventually shifts into a supernatural horror in which Wheatley uses any number of tricks to terrorize both the characters and the audience.

Choosing to set a story in the middle of a pandemic whilst in the middle of a pandemic is sure to give the audience a slight unease, contextualizing the film in a way that subconsciously hits home a little harder than your average horror. Because the pandemic looms over the movie (characters are wearing face masks and constantly applying hand sanitizer), Wheatley has smartly chosen to use our recent fears against us while simultaneously getting us to root for our main characters in the beginning to help solve this crisis we in the real world are just now seeing an end light to.

Acting wise, our principle cast all turn in excellent jobs. Joel Fry begins the film as Martin, a scientist determined to meet up with an old colleague. Martin is shy, sheepish, if not a bit suspect as he avoids personal questions and provides half-truths. While Fry turn in a good performance, the spotlight shines brightest on Ellora Torchia as his guide, Alma. Alma’s tasked with taking Martin to rendezvous with a scientist working on a cure to the virus. Alma’s no-nonsense demeanor gives Torchia plenty to work with, doing a lot of the heavy lifting in a number of the scenes. In a way, while the story and focus is on Martin it’s Alma that gets the work done; she serves a dual role of saving the day as well as being the audience surrogate as she voices all the most sensible opinions. Due to Torchia’s performance and excellent writing, Alma is the character that stands above the rest. Hayley Squires as Olivia Wendle, the scientist they set out to find, leans full in to the creep factor of the movie, using her huge round eyes to convey the sense that the scientist who’s been living in the woods for an undetermined amount of time may not be as put together as she seems. She teeters the line between reliable and untrustworthy as she feeds the audience information to fill in back story while also devising her own schemes. Reece Shearsmith rounds out the main cast as Zach, the completely unhinged villain who, while having a relatively small amount of screen time makes sure his presence looms while not on screen.

Written and directed by Ben Wheatley, In the Earth is cerebral, terrifying, and straight up gross. Written and shot in only 15 days, the film suffers from what can only be called a hasty production. Smartly using the open woods as a backdrop that cut down on setup time between shots, the cinematography is well composed (there’s a shot of a character using a flare in the dark that’s incredibly gorgeous), but it’s the editing that tends to drag the film down. Abrupt endings to scenes happen multiple times in the movie as if Wheatley were only afforded one or two takes before having to move onto the next thing on the shot list. Fortunately, most of this happens in the first act while the movie is still setting the stage for the audience; once Martin and Alma’s sojourn into the woods turns south in act two, the story evens out and transitions become smoother. Wheatley sets a tone that makes for the best type of horror: the atmospheric, ethereal feel of the film coupled with composer Clint Mansell’s moody, trippy score combine to give the audience that constant unease and anxiety that sets every mental red flag and alarm bell ringing.

Overall, In the Earth is a masterpiece of a horror film. Expertly using both visual and audio, Wheatley manages to assault a number of the senses, leaving the viewer uneasy, unsettled, and unable to maintain a clear focus as the film labors to keep the protagonists off kilter. Outstanding performances from the central cast as a well as a maddeningly kinetic cinematography makes this one of the best movies of 2021 thus far. A warning should be given, though, to those with sensitivity to strobing lights; a number of scenes are intense and feature multiple flashes of light meant to disorient the viewer, so beware. With an ending on par with the famous third act of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Neon has proven yet again that the company knows how to make an audience cringe, squirm, delight, and at times laugh. In the Earth will be released in theaters April 16th.

Review by Darryl Mansel