{"id":22541,"date":"2021-04-15T14:02:34","date_gmt":"2021-04-15T21:02:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=22541"},"modified":"2021-04-15T14:02:34","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T21:02:34","slug":"in-the-earth-is-an-atmospheric-experiment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=22541","title":{"rendered":"IN THE EARTH is an Atmospheric Experiment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This feature film from NEON will be in open theaters and\ndrive-ins April 16th<\/sup>. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

English writer\/director Ben Wheatley is an independent filmmaker\nwhose eccentric pictures have been gaining attention for more than a decade.\nCult titles like Kill List<\/em>, Sightseers<\/em>, A Field in England<\/em>\nand Free Fire<\/em> have recently led to the moviemaker being hired to direct\na sequel to the big-budget shark movie, The Meg<\/em>. But when recent world\nevents pushed back the start of production, the director used his time off to return\nto his low-budget roots. In the Earth<\/em> is a little pandemic-set chiller\nthat takes viewers to some disturbing places. It\u2019s a mood piece rather than a\ntraditional horror picture and avoids doling out the expected genre film thrills,\nbut does still manage to make the skin crawl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Research scientist Martin Lowrey (Joel Fry) arrives at a\nremote wilderness outpost for a study on soil properties. He explains that his mentor\nOlivia Wendle (Hayley Squires), has been working out in the field and hasn\u2019t responded\nto his letters in some time. After going through pandemic protocols and waiting\nto be escorted into the forest by guide Alma (Ellora Torchia), the new arrival learns\nabout a mythic and threatening pagan folktale figure named Parnag Fegg. Martin\neventually treks away off Alma, but it isn\u2019t long before they begin feeling a disturbing\nand supernatural aura from the surrounding trees. A wince-inducing injury slows\nthem down further and the pair encounter a quirky man living in the forest named\nZach (Reece Shearsmith), who may or may not be a threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The movie is modest in scale, but the stripped-down appearance\nfeels relatable given the current state of the world. Protagonist Martin is a very\nsweet, likable and too-trusting lead who thinks the best of those around him\nand attempts to maintain a positive outlook despite having to endure some disturbing\nsituations. Alma also makes an impression as the knowledgeable and capable guide\nwho has seen it all (well, almost everything) and exercises more caution and\ndistrust than the scientist. They quickly develop a rapport that is effective,\nbut doesn\u2019t feel too friendly or familiar given their recent introduction.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While it takes a little bit of time to get going, the foreboding\natmosphere generates significant tension. From the point at which these two\ncharacters find a disheveled tent and then encounter Zach, there are situations\nthat result in squirminess on the part of the viewers. Thanks to the work of\nthe cast, it is hard to get a read on the new arrival and his true motivations.\nAnd when things eventually take a turn for the worse, it results in a few incredibly\ndisturbing scenes. One character\u2019s foot is put through some unsettling acts that\nwon\u2019t be easy to forget. There\u2019s also a grotesque end to one figure late in the\nfeature that makes an impression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the injuries pile up and the characters provide rationales\nfor their bizarre behavior, the movie struggles a bit more. The forest simply seems\nto have an intangible pull that keeps characters on site, which on first\nviewing does feel like a vague excuse to prevent the leads from leaving and sparing\nthemselves from danger. Of course, the land\u2019s mystical draw can also be used as\nan excuse for one of the leads acting less bothered than they should be by physical\ninjuries and their confidence in one figure who looks barking mad from the moment\nthey are introduced. The movie may be attempting to show us a mirror and display\nhow badly we behave when isolated and left alone to our own devices, but some\nof these aspects seem a bit overplayed and underexplained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Still, the cast are strong and the movie sets up an intriguing scenario, even if some of the scientific mumbo-jumbo about Parnag Fegg isn\u2019t convincing and the finale fails to provide any shocking surprises. If you\u2019re okay with a timely arthouse horror flick soaked in an atmosphere or dread, In the Earth<\/em> will deliver the goods. It works well-enough as a lockdown-inspired experiment for writer\/director Wheatley before he moves on to potentially grander genre film escapades. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This feature film from NEON will be in open theaters and drive-ins April 16th. English writer\/director Ben Wheatley is an independent filmmaker whose eccentric pictures have been gaining attention for more than a decade. Cult titles like Kill List, Sightseers, A Field in England and Free Fire have recently led to the moviemaker being hired […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":22542,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[206,2539,6866,7006,8957,9319,9725,9726,9727,9728,10796,12223,14533,15742,16455,16811,22825],"class_list":["post-22541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-206","tag-ben-wheatley","tag-ellora-torchia","tag-environmental","tag-hayley-squires","tag-horror","tag-in-the-earth","tag-in-the-earth-film-review","tag-in-the-earth-movie-review","tag-in-the-earth-review","tag-joel-fry","tag-legend","tag-myth","tag-parnag-fegg","tag-psychedelic","tag-reece-shearsmith","tag-thriller"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22541\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}