“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.”
I finally watched Barbarian this week. I have to admit I’m well behind on my horror movie viewing, particularly more recent films. I still haven’t seen The Substance. I know. Believe me, I know. I’ll get to it. Barbarian has been on my list since it was released in 2022, but for whatever reason (probably that contrarian part of me that avoids seeing things that people recommend a lot), I didn’t get around to it.
This is not a review of Barbarian. Oh, I intended for it to be – I enjoyed the film and the performances a lot – but then I remembered that Romona had done an excellent review when the film was released. (Check that out here.) I wish I’d remembered before I’d watched the film, but then maybe I would have delayed seeing it even longer, and I’m glad I did see it. However, it left me casting about for something else to review.
I had a recommendation from my friend Paul about a “folk horror” type movie, something like In the Earth (2021), but, in his words, “good.” (I liked In the Earth, but it’s a cheap looking film.) The recommendation was for Lovely, Dark and Deep, and the minute it started up I knew it was meant to be. The film stars Georgina Campbell, who did a great job as the main protagonist in… Barbarian.
The Medium
I watched Lovely, Dark & Deep on Tubi. It looks like there’s a blu-ray release from Germany, but that’s currently the only physical option. In addition to Tubi, Lovely, Dark and Deep can be seen for free on Hoopla and rented or purchased via Amazon, AppleTV, Fandango and Microsoft.
The Movie
Lovely, Dark and Deep starts with that above quote from naturalist John Muir. The title is a reference to the poem Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost. I appreciate the literary pretensions, but some people may find them just that – pretentious. We see an older man dressed as a park ranger leave a note taped to a sign. “I owe this land a body,” it says. Then he walks off into the trees. We’re treated to several shots of the forest and mountains with eerie sounds and music. It’s a nice start. The cinematography in particular deserves a mention. Rui Poças keeps things off kilter, the camera movement subtle and ominous, while also showing us just how lovely the park is.
From there we’re introduced to Lennon (Campbell), a ranger newly arrived to Arvores National Park (a fictional park that appears to be in Northern California). Lennon is one of a number of rangers stationed in back-country tents for weeks at a time. But Lennon has more on her mind than just keeping an eye out for fire danger or hikers. That first evening in her tent/cabin, after being dropped off by helicopter, she puts up a map covered with lines and notes about disappearances. Taped to it is a missing persons poster for a little girl named Jenny Lennon. Her sister.
When Lennon goes on patrol the next day we hear her listening to podcasts about missing people. Particularly people going missing in national parks. The podcasts make it sound like there is an unreported epidemic of people going missing in national parks, particularly parks with large boulder fields. Arvores has the largest boulder fields of any national park, and the largest number of missing people.
So there’s the setup. Lennon is working, yes – dismantling illegal fire pits, picking up trash and walking the trails – but she’s also looking. Looking for her sister, who went missing in the park years ago, when they were both kids. She doesn’t know what, exactly, she’s looking for, but the forest is vast and so she keeps looking.
I do love the mood of this film. It’s slow and atmospheric, with lots of drone shots and meangingful zooms and weird noises at night. I like the notes about people missing near boulder fields, as it reminds me of similar stories about standing stones in the UK. Campbell does well carrying the film for the most part – she’s the only person on screen for huge chunks of time – but there’s only so much gazing pensively into the distance you can take after a while. Something needs to happen, and something does.
About a third of the way through the film a hiker shows up at Lennon’s cabin in the middle of the night. He’s injured, and his girlfriend is missing. “There one minute and gone the next.” A massive search is mounted, but Lennon is sidelined. Or at least she’s ordered to stay at her tent/cabin, just in case the missing women returns.
But of course Lennon doesn’t stay. She goes looking for the woman on her own. Miraculously she finds her, injured and erratic. “Are you real?” she asks Lennon. “Yes,” Lennon replies. “Yes, I’m real.”
The other rangers, particularly Lennon’s boss, Zhang (Wai Ching Ho), don’t seem as happy about the return of the missing woman as they should be. Lennon herself is basically fired, told to pack up her stuff and wait five days until the helicopter comes and picks her up.
Well, we already know what Lennon does when ordered to stay put. What are they going to do, fire her? So she heads out into the woods again, looking, still looking, for answers. When she hears about another hiker going missing, she answers the call – and somehow finds herself halfway across the park.
And then things start to get really weird. Going into too much detail is spoiler country (lovely, dark and deep), so I’ll be vague about the remaining elements of the film.
There ARE answers, of a sort, about what is really going on in the park. Why there are people missing, and what it really costs when some of those people come back. Lennon has interfered in something old and dark (and deep), and it will cost her.
If I’m honest, the film starts to lose something the minute it starts trying to give us answers. The final third of the film contains some jumps, some startling imagery and some cathartic moments regarding Lennon’s childhood, but it also doesn’t make as much sense as it should. There are some big asks on our suspension of belief, and I don’t think the film has done the legwork required to make us buy into the details. First time Director Teresa Sutherland has crafted a nicely paced, creepy film, but doesn’t quite stick the landing.
And that ending. Oh, boy do I hate that ending. I personally would have burned that damn park to the ground. (Which is awful to say, given the situation in California right now. But I would.)
The Bottom Line
Lovely, Dark and Deep is a decent film with some great cinematography, plenty of atmosphere and another good performance from Georgina Campbell. The first two thirds are great, but the final third doesn’t pay off the tension the first parts build up. Not in a way that’s remotely satisfying, anyway. I still say it’s worth the journey – there’s plenty to enjoy in the film – but be prepared for mysteries that have answers that aren’t as complete or understandable as you might hope.
