LOVELY, DARK, AND DEEP – Review by Justina Walford
Many horror movies are for entertainment and adrenaline. But there is a long line of films in the genre that explore the darker aspects of society, human behavior, and morality. A scary film allows us to confront issues often too profound or painful to look at head-on. George Romero didn’t make zombie movies. He made movies about racism, consumerism, and corruption. Robert Wise’s The Haunting or Kubrick’s The Shining delve into the frailty of the mind -the monster inside all of us. Wrapped in unbelievable worlds and magical people, it is easier for us to digest the nuance of our complex world in this shadow realm.
I was genuinely delighted to watch Lovely, Dark, and Deep. It is not a slasher film. It is not for mere entertainment. It is an emotional film in a dark, shadow world about grief, regret, and sacrifice. The plot seems perfect for horror: Lennon (Georgina Campbell), a new park ranger in the isolated back-country, tries to uncover the truth about her sister who went missing years ago and instead confronts her regret and grief in the supernaturally charged wilderness.
It’s surprising this is Teresa Sutherland’s directorial debut because the shots are exceptionally done -intentional, stunning, and moody. However, it is no surprise she was a staff writer on one of my favorite shows, Midnight Mass, and wrote The Wind, which is such a visceral experience in the theater. Her characters and sparse, poetic dialogue lend themselves to a visual that physically embraces the audience in a bone-chilling hug.
When my mother was diagnosed with dementia, I didn’t watch movies about dementia. I watched movies where the main character wasn’t believed, where their reality was rejected. To try to understand my mother’s situation, I would escape into films where the protagonist was alone in knowing the truth. It gave me empathy. I could conjure the feelings I felt watching the film as I saw the same fear and frustration in my mother’s eyes. And it is because of this that I love the genre so much. Lovely, Dark, and Deep in a similar way, took me through the journey of survivor guilt. I walked with Lennon, the main character, through her grief and regret. I saw her choice match her trauma.
And while we spend much of the film unsure if what we see is her madness or the madness of the wilderness, we know that as we go on this journey with Lennon, every eerie and haunting moment is connected to the painful process of loss.
A good psychological horror is like looking at the moon instead of the sun. It helps us process the toughest existential questions through the softer, more human-sized brightness of a reflection. The unreality and surreal environment gives us room to feel removed from statements about ourselves. And in our exploration in these dark realms, we find ourselves.
