‘In the Earth’ Review: A Tense and Trippy Annihilation-Lite
With the entire world reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, it was only a matter of time before writers, filmmakers, and other artists tried to exploit it for content. While the now infamously bad Songbird represents a lousy first attempt, veteran thriller filmmaker Ben Wheatley‘s attempt works a good deal better by sidestepping the obvious. In the Earth was famously shot over the course of 15 days in the middle of August 2020, and while it is certainly bare-bones and low-budget, it works for the most part.
The film focuses on a set of biological researchers who journey out into the woods in search of their colleagues near the end of a global pandemic. The film mostly uses the pandemic as window-dressing to discuss broader fears humanity has about itself and its place in the world. The researchers in the film specialize in fungus, which they believe will provide a more effective treatment for the disease, and eventually stumble on to a massive fungal network that seems to have a mind of its own and can control other organisms in its environment.
In spite of its low production value, the film is very moody and tense. It is a cliche for low-budget films to take place in the woods, but In the Earth makes the most of its location to create plenty of tension. The film also boasts some interesting technical flourishes, from unusual lighting schemes, sound design, and kaleidoscopic editing. Wheatley served as the film’s editor, as well as writer and director, taking much of the production into his own hands and the results are effective. Due to the film’s low budget, most of the visual effects are conducted through clever in camera effects and editing tricks, making heavy use of superimposition and cross cutting together.
The performances are solid across the board, though none are especially show-stopping. The story is interesting in terms of its themes and it sets up the finale well, however the ending is nothing to write home about, opting for mystification instead of clarification. What makes it work, however, is that it manages to take the many fears and anxieties that have come up during the last year, and explore them on a broader and more universal level. The fear of nature is the primary one here. Like the virus, the fungus is completely alien, invisible, and it cannot be reasoned with. It is also all encompassing, seemingly everywhere at once and infecting everything, much the same way the most paranoid germaphobe has probably felt over the last year. Coinciding with this is the fear of others and their agendas. The lead characters in the film stumble upon other researchers in the woods, who seem to have lost their minds and are looking to accomplish a sinister agenda. Just as the pandemic has bred paranoid distrust and animosity between otherwise reasonable people, so does the creepy atmosphere of the film causing its characters to continually doubt each other’s motives.
While In the Earth has a lot in common superficially with the 2018 masterpiece Annihilation, its stands well on its own as an effective thrill-ride.
