Something in the Dirt (2022)

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Posted By: brian@brianschell.com January 6, 2023

Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone

It’s a lot of two guys talking. They are interesting, and what they are talking about is often interesting. But there’s not enough else that happens to keep it from getting kind of dull after a while. It’s strange and offbeat, kind of humorous here and there with a heavy dose of science fiction, but it’s pretty low-key on horror.

Synopsis

We open on a guy sleeping on a sleeping bag in an empty house. We see that it’s a really scuzzy apartment, and he seems to be seeing it for the first time himself. Levi tells older neighbor John that there’s no lease, and he rented it sight unseen online, but he seems OK with that. There are nearby fires, airplanes, coyotes, and homeless people. But it’s California, so at least the weather is really nice.

We cut to an interview with Dr. Rita Miller who says she believes at least some of it was real. We don’t know what she’s talking about.

John and Levi move furniture into Levi’s place. As John leaves, he notices weird sparkling lights— something invisible was moving the ashtray. Levi doesn’t see anything, but he’s polite about it. Then he sees it too. They find several dead birds outside their door.

John wants to start a supernatural podcast. John’s a photographer, and the idea soon morphs into a documentary.

We cut to John and Levi talking to the camera in interviews.

That night, the two guys start to document the weird heat coming out of the closet door. John wants to call it “Something in the Light.” Levi prefers, “The Door That Wouldn’t Shut.” The camera overheats and the SD card is full. They didn’t get anything.

John looks up Levi’s phone number online and instead finds him in the sex offender registry. Levi doesn’t want to discuss it at first, but eventually talks about taking a leak in the wrong place. That’s good enough for John. When the ashtray starts floating again, they’re ready with the cameras.

We cut to Halloween, where kids come to the door (of the sex offender’s house). The ghost does some more stuff, and maybe there’s an earthquake. They call in an earthquake expert. John thinks it’s just a normal LA earthquake, but Levi wants to call it supernatural. After a while, John thinks maybe the closet is the door to another planet.

There’s some controversy over John and Levi playing themselves in the recreation of their experiences. John now thinks that the doorway is a portal to another dimension.

A neighbor overdoses, and Levi compares that to a sacrifice; is this all part of a ritual of some kind? John thinks the whole city was designed based on the template of an old tablet he found. The plant growing in Levi’s room is suspiciously weird, so John tries to eat it. “If I’m the first person on Earth to die eating interdimensional fruit, I’m fine with that!” He gets distracted and doesn’t try it.

Then the radiation sets in. John starts wearing a shower curtain, and Levi finds a skull. It only gets weirder from there…

Commentary

It’s offbeat and sorta funny, but I’d not call it a comedy. The acting is fine, the cinematography is good as well. The problem is the plot, or lack thereof. “Two guys find some weirdness in an apartment and try to film it” just isn’t a two-hour movie.

There’s lots and lots of conversations and talking. Honestly, most of the runtime is just the two guys talking and comparing theories. It’s all about two interesting characters interacting, but don’t come here looking for horror. It gets very much bogged down in conspiracy theories and similar ideas.

I found it immensely boring.