In the Earth (2021)

While a pandemic has swept the world, a scientist and a park ranger venture into the woods to find a fellow scientist who may have had a significant breakthrough.

Brutal, psychedelic, relatable, but overly intricate horror that defies Hollywood’s conventions. From the very beginning to the first plot point, one feels that the editing choices – the jump cuts – are eager to move the story forward. Moving it towards where is a good question. In the meantime, Martin’s secrets and, somehow, obvious dishonesty seem to be preparing the ground for something that will play a role when the twist reveals itself.

Scenes like the “stitching” and the “ritual” turn the sci-fi from torture horror into something more… folklore! As the psychological drama keeps blending with the gore, the suspense intensifies, and one can only wonder how this can possibly have a happy ending. Before you find out what kind of ending the film will have, the experimental chase sequence reveals more information, and, in an intricate way, the combination of utterances and actions up to that point starts making sense. Due to the film’s nature, it is difficult to go into it further without spoiling for you, so this is where I will stop.

Ever since Kill List (2011), writer/editor/director Ben Wheatley has been one of my favourite filmmakers of his generation. Kill List was his first and massively successful effort to switch from a realistically gritty thriller to a cult horror that defies reason. In the Earth is not far off, but its experimental, hallucinatory and psychedelic nature, at times, gives a whole new different vibe. The film’s photography (Nick Gillespie) and 80s music score (Clint Mansell) become assets to a convoluted and head-scratching narrative that ultimately confuses. Still, I’ll dare say that it does not disappoint. I’ve heard a truckload of awfully negative comments, and I believe this results from false expectations. Small things that influenced me a tad negatively are sequences that involve the aforementioned secrecy and dishonesty that didn’t really lead anywhere; therefore, it was just misleading for no apparent reason. Other than that, Joel Fry, Ellora Torchia, Hayley Squires, and Reece Sharesmith have great chemistry and deliver amazingly convincing performances.

What you’ll make of it depends on your understanding of the narrative. Pay close attention to what is said in all three acts. Our current pandemic is obviously the film’s source of inspiration, but its development is a Ben Wheatley original film with twists and rich visuals.

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Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!

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