Lovely, Dark, and Deep

This film is a trip.

Despite it's stunning setting, excellent cinematography, and intriguing concept...I'm not surprised to hear that a lot of people didn't like this film.

Because the ending of is both convoluted and confounding.

Any true crime fans familiar with the popular youtube conspiracy Missing 411, will immediately pick up that this film is a play off that idea.

If you aren't familiar with it: it pertains to the high percentage of unresolved missing persons cases that are connected to national parks across the country.

This film- which is a crime mystery, psychological horror, and sci fi film all rolled into one- starts off straight forward enough...as we follow a rookie park ranger, named Lennon, who took on the profession specifically to investigate these sort of cases.

Making her a representation of the class of self styled internet sleuths, who are drawn toward such mysteries, on the internet.

The reason for this being, because her little sister is one of those missing people- who inexplicably vanished in the Avorres National Park, never to be seen or heard from again.

Which she blames herself for...as she was supposed to be the one watching her at the time.

Beyond this, however, things get really weird.

And I mean REALLY weird.

With everything starting when a new missing person call comes in.

Despite being ordered to stay behind, Lennon makes her way into the backwoods in search of the missing woman...and finds her.

Which seems to mark the end of her tenure as a park ranger...

So she heads out into the forest for one last investigation.

Which is when things seem to start to take a supernatural turn.

The question being...is what happens to her next, real...or just all in her head.

Prior to this, the film hints at there being rumours that question her mental stability.

So the possibility that it's the latter is certainly there.

The rangers are taught to leave notes behind, marking the time they left, and duration they plan to be gone for, each time they leave their cabin.

However...early on in the film there is some foreshadowing (that pertains to another missing ranger)...when we are shown a shot of a note that says something along the lines of "I owe this land one body".

Which ends up being integral to understanding the otherwise confusing way in which the film ends.

Because, as part of her hallucinatory katabasis, Lennon is warned that she must return what she has taken...or be taken, herself.

However, what it is she took isn't exactly clear.

It turns out that what she took was actually the young woman she saved, when she found her the previous day.

Hence why she ends up owing the land one body.

And, seemingly, what triggers her descent into the hellish nightmare that may or may not be madness.

The mystery is retained by it's ambiguity...which is precisely what makes this film so intriguing.

Because once she manages to break free from her torment...she is still beholden to this obligation.

Which is something you need to realize, in order to fully grasp why the film ends the way it does.

As, the state the man (at the end of the film) is in, both confirms- and justifies- her experience as being valid.

So, she knows the burden, explained above, still lies upon her.

Hence why she lies to him, and takes the action she does.

Because, only by doing so can she appease the forces at work, and truly free herself from the grip of the forest.

Note the final shot...as the drone moves higher and higher, we see they are amidst a field of large granite boulders.

Which harkens back to when she was listening to a podcast, earlier in the film, during which it is mentioned that the phenomenon is more predominant when granite is present in the vicinity.

So...despite the fact that it is completely understandable that you might not get how the film ends.

It's actually kind of brilliant when you think about it.

You just have to pay very close attention to the small details...and ponder on it a little.

It's definitely a thinker...and not everyone wants that out of a film (particularly a horror film).

But don't let the haters deter you...because it's actually a pretty awesome film.

Just...a really trippy one.

7 out of 10.

Where do I even begin with this mess of a movie? There is so much that was poorly done about, I don't even know where I should start. It's like someone took an interesting premise, someone else wrote the most boring story surrounding it, and then you had someone completely different write the script. Disjointed, all-over-the-place storytelling that left you with more questions than you started off with, and that is never a compliment.

The first inclination that this was going to be a bad film was that it took almost 40 minutes before anything of note transpired. The initial 40 were spent with the lead wandering the woods, making her rounds as a park ranger, while also looking for someone. When the movie does get going, it's at a snails pace. I'm not joking when I say that for every minute something even remotely interesting is happening, there are 20 minutes of nonsense. Drone flying over the woods, the woods creeping upside down, trees, more woods, trees, trees, trees. That's the gist of this movie. It was almost like an advertisement for the National Parks, and this movie is probably less exciting than a ranger training video.

It's a movie that, the more you watched, the more you could tell that it didn't really have a firm direction to begin with. It was like a movie made by various people who didn't share their part of the story until the end, and the movie suffered greatly because of it. The last half hour I watched on 8X speed because I just couldn't be bothered to give this movie any more of my time.

I'm starting to notice a trend in these modern Hollywood horror films; every time a horror movies showcases any signs of D. E. I it's been awful, and you can throw this one right in the pile. It looks like the focus is on superficial elements that are more important than telling a decent story that people might actually enjoy, and that in itself is a real travesty of modern day Hollywood. I'm so glad that movies in the rest of the world aren't adhering to that nonsense. Hollywood really isn't worth the time or energy if they keep pumping out crap like this.

A total and complete waste of time. Please, for the love of all that is decent and pure, listen to me; your time is much to precious to spend it watching movies like these. Avoid this movie at all costs. It's just not good by any metric you throw at it.

In 2023's "Lovely, Dark, and Deep" we are introduced to Lennon, a new back country ranger who is traveling through the wilderness hoping to uncover something from her past. The movie has some great shots of nature and there's a mystical feeling about the woods she is patrolling. She also meets another ranger and a lost woman in the woods. But for some reason the other Rangers don't seem to be pleased about her finding that woman and tell her to go home. The movie is much more complex and sadly that gets confusing quite fast. It felt like a fever dream with lots of unsettling noises and unique shots. The end result felt a little unfinished and the movie leaves too many unanswered questions. It's an overall decent watch but definitely won't suit everybody. [4,9/10]

Hoping to overcome a personal tragedy, a woman treks into the wilderness under the guise of a new ranger's job which allows her to look into the past tragedy that has haunted her only to come face to face with the unwanted source of the hauntings and must battle her sanity to escape the area.

This was a decent enough if overall underwhelming genre effort. Among its few positive features here is the general sense of isolation and atmospherics that are present within here. A vast majority of the first half is spent in the confines of the forest and the wonderful use of atmospherics only enhances that with the idea of the forest being alive and toying with her which is somewhat unnerving. Enhanced incredibly well with the given backstory about her past history and the connection she has with the missing ranger friend that spurns her into going along with the trip, this gets the film off to a solid start as the motivation to get there offers quite an impressive factor to get to the surroundings around her. As it gradually dawns on her that the more she's around the forest the more she questions what she's seeing and believing, the madness that develops here as the psychological effects take centerstage manages to be the big crowning achievement in the film. As this gives way to the further connection between the events taking place and the past encounter that initially drew her to the area, this starts to take a far greater and more atmospheric turn as the inability to determine what's going on is a strong one. Taking the chance to incorporate a slew of psychological clues and disturbnances that take place to upset her, there's a lot of unnerving work throughout here as the inability to distinguish from her past hallucinations, repressed memories, or having something legitimately taking place during the stay. As these lead to further revelations about everything and what's really going on within the film, the truth being revealed the way it does is quite fun with how it comes together into a shocking mystery as to how it takes place which also utilizes the fine reveal for a lot to like here. Other than this, though, there's not a whole lot to the film as a whole. So much of this is reliant on the idea of the creepiness of the woods and the unnatural setting that's really only a normal enough forest that there's not a whole lot of action to be had here. The main part of the film which is wholly enjoyable due to the effectiveness of this build-up about her growing uncertainty with regard to what happened to her yet this is all generally dull and uneventful with how it's handled especially for those looking for something beyond just fleeting glimpses of shadows or objects in the distance. As a result, the focus on getting the type of chilling genre content usually featured here is kept to a minimum as the psychological leanings are far more featured which becomes a major stumbling block that holds this one back.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

Gorgeous directing and cinematography, and Georgina Campbell was great as always. Definitely an atmospheric slowwww burn, I do wish it went a little more insane when it started to turn, would've been more of a payoff for the wait, but they still pulled off some neat stuff. The climbing thing was perfect, so so creepy. This would be a good one for those who prefer suspense/true crime over heavy gore. Nice short 87 minute runtime too so it's not a huge commitment and it definitely keeps you interested. Very promising stuff from a first time director, would be glad to watch whatever comes next :) Also "I owe this land a body" is just the creepiest thing ever so specific props on that.