Something in the Dirt (2022)

“I need you to stay calm, because I have this completely under control, ok?”

LA based filmmakers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead’s latest film is a psychological head trip full of paranoia and high strangeness. Shot in their own apartments over the pandemic using a skeleton crew of their friends, the two filmmakers put together this story about two neighbours trying to investigate a paranormal event. The more they investigate, the wilder their theories get, and the more they fall down the rabbit hole. This is Benson & Moorhead’s strongest film yet, and if you’re a fan of their previous sci-fi/horror features like The Endless or Resolution, you may even spot a few easter eggs.

I really appreciate the structure of this film. Using a mix of cameras and format shifts, they create a perfect unreliable narrator story that only gets richer on the rewatch. I also loved that they wove so much of LA’s weird, eerie history and architecture into their lore, while keeping the characters grounded. There’s a painful loneliness that drives both John (Moorehead) and Levi (Benson), and though some moments are deeply funny, the overarching story is so moving and sad. The conclusion really snuck up on me — this movie taps into two of my deepest nightmares and left me shook.