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Something in the Dirt Movie Review

Something in the Dirt is a 2022 science fiction film directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead and starring the two. It’s their typical effort in terms of strengths and weaknesses.

When neighbors John and Levi witness shocking supernatural events in their Los Angeles apartment building, they realize documenting the paranormal could inject some much-needed fame and fortune into their humdrum lives. This is the sixth feature film from this directing duo and it’s in the middle of the pack when it comes to quality.

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The best part of this movie is the dialogue. While initially coming across as smug and very limited in its appeal, eventually the two actors developed a very interesting, fun dynamic and that elevated the weaker story at hand significantly. Benson and Moorhead are excellent playing off against one another and their friendship was wonderful here.

The humorous elements worked to a degree and the dialogue was tremendous throughout. My main issue with this movie is that it’s overly ambitious. It is so ambitious, in fact, that the end product could have never properly executed its premise. The result is a messy movie that has strong ideas, but fails to develop them into a more coherent narrative.

Something in the Dirt is also problematic in its slow pacing and overlong runtime. It is two hours long, and for a cheap movie with a high-concept idea such as this one, one and a half hours would have sufficed. The duo did include some interesting ideas in terms of clever editing techniques and solid cinematography that elevated its smaller budget constraints, but still I cannot help but imagine what these guys could do with a bigger budget and hopefully one of these days they finally will get that opportunity.

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