Leave it to none other than sci-fi/horror savants Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson to put a bizarre twist on their relationship with the filmmaking process using ghosts and conspiracy theories.
In Something in the Dirt, we first meet John (Moorhead) and Levi (Benson) as neighbours in a housing complex in Los Angeles. When Levi moves in, the apartment is empty and no lease is needed. Levi doesn't have much in his apartment, so John offers to bring over things his ex-husband left sitting in his garage. After John brings over a couch and other furniture, something magical happens when they are together in the same room. They decide to do what most folks would do on this occasion: get it on camera.
Something in the Dirt is a film that grows on you hours after the credits have finished rolling. Throughout the film's duration, we are given multiple possible explanations of what would cause strange occurrences in the apartment, like floating objects and an oddly overheating closet. John and Levi go back and forth on whether it could be ghosts, the afterlife, or even a secret math organization. As they try to figure it out, all while filming themselves, some events lead them in one direction and then another, building up the anticipation to a huge discovery.
Having been a fan of their career for the past seven years, Something in the Dirt was a film I was excited about even before I read the premise. Moorhead and Benson's filmography has elements of the paranormal, but it's never the emphasis. The characters and stories are why I return to their films again and again, and Something in the Dirt is no different. As we follow John and Levi down these rabbit holes of conspiracy theories ranging from believable to downright ridiculous, viewers slowly stop trying to figure out what's happening and just enjoy our time with them.
Moorhead and Benson play with the audience and make us question whether what we see is really happening — a great decision given that the film is filled with Reddit-like conspiracy theories. On top of that, Levi is holding onto secrets and John can't seem to tell the truth, creating even more uncertainty. As we peel back layer after layer, we're no closer to solving the mystery of the hot closet or floating crystals, but we slowly get a glimpse of who John and Levi are and want to be.
Something in the Dirt feels like Moorhead and Benson's explanation of why they make movies: to try and capture something magical on camera. Having recently worked with big studios like Marvel (Moon Knight) and Netflix (Archive 81), Something in the Dirt reminds us that they haven't lost their desire to give us something a little left-field.
(XYZ Films)In Something in the Dirt, we first meet John (Moorhead) and Levi (Benson) as neighbours in a housing complex in Los Angeles. When Levi moves in, the apartment is empty and no lease is needed. Levi doesn't have much in his apartment, so John offers to bring over things his ex-husband left sitting in his garage. After John brings over a couch and other furniture, something magical happens when they are together in the same room. They decide to do what most folks would do on this occasion: get it on camera.
Something in the Dirt is a film that grows on you hours after the credits have finished rolling. Throughout the film's duration, we are given multiple possible explanations of what would cause strange occurrences in the apartment, like floating objects and an oddly overheating closet. John and Levi go back and forth on whether it could be ghosts, the afterlife, or even a secret math organization. As they try to figure it out, all while filming themselves, some events lead them in one direction and then another, building up the anticipation to a huge discovery.
Having been a fan of their career for the past seven years, Something in the Dirt was a film I was excited about even before I read the premise. Moorhead and Benson's filmography has elements of the paranormal, but it's never the emphasis. The characters and stories are why I return to their films again and again, and Something in the Dirt is no different. As we follow John and Levi down these rabbit holes of conspiracy theories ranging from believable to downright ridiculous, viewers slowly stop trying to figure out what's happening and just enjoy our time with them.
Moorhead and Benson play with the audience and make us question whether what we see is really happening — a great decision given that the film is filled with Reddit-like conspiracy theories. On top of that, Levi is holding onto secrets and John can't seem to tell the truth, creating even more uncertainty. As we peel back layer after layer, we're no closer to solving the mystery of the hot closet or floating crystals, but we slowly get a glimpse of who John and Levi are and want to be.
Something in the Dirt feels like Moorhead and Benson's explanation of why they make movies: to try and capture something magical on camera. Having recently worked with big studios like Marvel (Moon Knight) and Netflix (Archive 81), Something in the Dirt reminds us that they haven't lost their desire to give us something a little left-field.
