Film Review: Lovely, Dark, And Deep

Lovely, Dark, And Deep is the directorial debut of Teresa Sutherland, who notably wrote the screenplay for The Wind, as well as being a staff writer on Mike Flanagan’s Netflix miniseries, Midnight Mass. It follows Lennon (Georgina Campbell), a newly recruited park ranger who has taken a vacated position in an isolated outpost deep in a vast national park. The ranger who previously had her position mysteriously vanished. In fact, disappearances seem to be a fairly common occurrence in these woods, all of which have gone without so much as an explanation. Once she starts her work, she begins to realize there is something more to the woods than meets the eye.

The horror of the film relies more on atmosphere and vibes than anything else. Similar to The Wind, a lot of the tension is derived from what you don’t know and what you don’t see versus what you can see. Cinematographer Rui Poças does a terrific job at capturing not only the natural beauty of these landscapes, but also the eerie, mysteriousness that comes with a big, shrouded environment that is far from civilization, where you don’t know what you might encounter. There’s something deeply primal about the fear that the film evokes, and I found it to be quite effective.

Of course, there is also a personal element at play with Lennon as a character. She brings quite a bit of baggage to her position because she herself has experienced a loved one go missing when she was very young. Those memories haunt her to this day, and it informs the way she goes about her work, even if it puts her in the path of potential danger, as the woods themselves seem to quite literally be haunted, in a sense, with the memories of those who have come through and never left.

There is some strong supporting work from the likes of Wai Ching Ho and Nick Blood, but this is very much Campbell’s show, and she carries it really well. Between Barbarian and this, she is making quite the name for herself in the horror world. It’s a very different kind of performance, one that’s more internal, more contemplative. And whenever the film comes close to testing your patience, either through its methodical pacing or lack of any real answers being given, stretching the mystery as far as they can, she keep you holding onto the mystery of it all, and you want to watch it unfold with her.

Lovely, Dark, And Deep does get a bit esoteric with its style and theming. It’s not the kind of horror movie you watch if you want a quick and easy sit that spells everything out for you, if you want answers, the film does give them to you, but not necessarily with enough clarity to really satisfy that itch. It operates on a very dreamlike logic, one that leans into the horror of the unknown, bordering on cosmic in nature, of the things that are of this world but that we do not understand, and may not even come to understand, it simply is. I really vibed with the film, I think the craftsmanship is really strong, the mood really gets under your skin, and it shows quite a bit of promise for Sutherland as a filmmaker going forward.

Lovely, Dark, And Deep is now out on VOD platforms.