By Guest Contributor Darren Gaskell
The fabulously monikered Levi Danube (Justin Benson) moves into a ramshackle Los Angeles apartment and, via nothing more or less than a shared interest in smoking, strikes up a rapport with fellow block dweller John Daniels (Aaron Moorhead). Both appear to be searching for some kind of direction in life – John is attempting to deal with the fallout of a recent divorce, Levi has spent years drifting from place to place – and the discovery of a strange phenomenon in Levi’s new living space inspires the mismatched pair to make a documentary of their ongoing investigations.
As this is a Benson and Moorhead Film, once again featuring Benson and Moorhead as the lead characters, it could be expected that Something In The Dirt (2022) might present itself as a relocated franchise entry in their wider universe. The Endless: Los Angeles if you will. However, the rules and symbols laid down by that movie, and in Resolution before that, serve as sporadic, fun touchstones for fans without ever getting in the way of a story that constantly hints at something far grander in scope, even within the confines of a single location.
The early inclusion of supporting characters discussing the validity of Levi and John’s film, plus a foretaste of a dreadful event which we know will happen at the end of the tale (or do we?) adds a further, mind-melting, meta layer which forces the viewer to consider various points of view – from two narrators whose contradictory behaviour and increasing unreliability give rise to inevitable questions concerning just how much of their reality has been manipulated for the sake of a more involving story.
In this particular scenario, Benson and Moorhead play characters who are thrown together, rather than those with shared pasts and an easy shorthand, which creates suspense all of its own. Their relationship comes to be predicated on the documentary’s progress and as their movie-making experiences become more of a chore and less of an adventure, there’s little warmth between them to fall back on, adding emotional beats and a sense of impending danger as the worst sides of both men begin to emerge.
Thankfully, there’s a welcome streak of offbeat humour throughout, which never undercuts either the creepy or dramatic moments, but allows for the audience to take a breather from the admittedly enormous amount of information being presented to them in terms of theory and potential explanations. The fact that Levi and John’s findings take them in various directions and often leave them just as much in the dark as those of us watching gives a feeling of being right alongside them, as does the limited space of Levi’s apartment.
Something In The Dirt is, in many ways, Benson and Moorhead’s most intimate film yet; it’s also by far their most expansive. Our two protagonists take centre stage and dominate the proceedings even as a supporting cast of bewildered or annoyed or concerned (or bewildered, annoyed and concerned) acquaintances swirl around them. In terms of plot, the initial sojourn into an otherworldly area spins off into any number of theoretical directions and investigative cul de sacs, complicated further by our knowledge that Levi and John’s documentary may be sacrificing some of the mundane truth for punchy entertainment purposes.
At a few minutes under two hours, this is a movie that allows its big themes to breathe and, as with the duo’s previous work, allows for sparky, well-written back and forth between its characters as to why we’re here and what happens when we feel that we may not want to be here any longer. Rarely have existential crises been tackled in such an honest, brutally emotional yet thoroughly good-humoured way. An undoubted skill of this writing/directing team is their ability to tap into the ludicrousness of a situation, before flipping the scene on a dime to give the viewer a lump in their throat. Levi and John may not be the most sympathetic of people – and kudos to their creators for making them decidedly unheroic at all times – but they’re identifiably flawed and, come the final act, there’s a genuine sense of worry generated for this strange duo.
When filmmakers step in front of the camera, it’s a choice that doesn’t always work out, but that certainly is not the case here. A combination of Covid restrictions and budgetary necessity may have given Benson and Moorhead the decisive nudge to portray the leads, but they never fail to convince and their complementary skills translate to the performances with ease. Pleasingly, character beats that would form major dramatic arcs in other films are used as interesting asides or amusing misdirection here, such is the wealth of detail in Benson’s smart screenplay.
Those looking for a neat conclusion will find little solace in Something In The Dirt’s ultimate reveals, but a quest as rough-hewn and chaotic as this suits an end point that isn’t an end point at all – it’s a doorway to a continued mess of contradictory phenomena, obfuscated by society’s point of view when it comes to the integrity of the two narrators. As such, it’s a fascinating, if not unexpected, method of wrapping up matters and general satisfaction at this will, I suspect, vary wildly. I loved it, but please don’t come for me.
For me, Something In The Dirt not only stands up against the impressive, previous body of work from Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead but it may very well be the best film they’ve made so far. Taking a pandemic-affected time for movie making and turning it into a piece of work so grounded in grimy reality, yet so ambitious in its plotting, is a cause for celebration. Cerebral without sacrificing accessibility, this is easily one of the best of 2022 for me, still allowing for questions that will linger long after several rewatches; the biggest question of them all being: how will these guys manage to top this?
Something in the Dirt (2022) is available now on Amazon Instant Video, Google Play, iTunes and Vudu.