Something in the Dirt
Two aimless Los Angeles neighbors turn paranormal evidence into a homemade fame project, only to find their investigation destabilizing the world around them and their bond.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Slow
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Dense
- Violence
- Mild
- darkly comic
- paranoid
- eerie
- late night viewing
- indie horror night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film's inventive pseudo-documentary form, performances, and intellectually playful supernatural mystery, while finding its deliberately slow, opaque descent demanding.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
John and Levi film and assemble evidence of supernatural phenomena, making documentation itself part of the plot.
Earthquakes, crystals, scavenger-hunt clues, and unexplained occurrences push the neighbors toward increasingly elaborate interpretations.
The Los Angeles apartment building supplies the enclosed environment where ordinary domestic spaces become sites of paranormal investigation.
John and Levi begin as collaborators seeking fame and fortune, but their documentary project strains their relationship as the mystery deepens.
Films like Something in the Dirt, and why
The Endless
shared pseudo-documentary construction, eccentric friendship, escalating supernatural mystery, and darkly comic self-reflexivity
The Vast of Night
shared low-budget supernatural investigation, intimate two-hander tension, and paranoid reality-bending atmosphere
Barton Fink
shared apartment-bound surrealism, comic unease, and a protagonist's obsessive descent into an inexplicable mystery
Inherent Vice
shared dark comedy, conspiracy-minded paranoia, and an increasingly unstable search for meaning in ordinary surroundings
Movie Details
- Directors
- Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson
- Release Date
- 2022-11-03
- Runtime
- 115 min
- Rating
- 5.8 / 10 (146)
Cast
- Aaron Moorhead
- Justin Benson
- Sarah Adina Smith
- Wanjiru M. Njendu
- Issa López
- Vinny Curran
- Gille Klabin
- C. Robert Cargill
- David Lawson Jr.
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Plex
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Something in the Dirt about?
- Two aimless Los Angeles neighbors turn paranormal evidence into a homemade fame project, only to find their investigation destabilizing the world around them and their bond.
- What is Something in the Dirt like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Something in the Dirt as slow, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as dense.
- Is Something in the Dirt violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Something in the Dirt as mild.
- What did critics think of Something in the Dirt?
- Critics broadly praised the film's inventive pseudo-documentary form, performances, and intellectually playful supernatural mystery, while finding its deliberately slow, opaque descent demanding.
- Which films are like Something in the Dirt?
- Films with a similar feel include The Endless, The Vast of Night, Barton Fink, and Inherent Vice.
- How long is Something in the Dirt?
- Something in the Dirt runs 115 minutes.
- Where can I watch Something in the Dirt?
- In United States, Something in the Dirt is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Plex.
