Joel Fry-days: In the Earth (2021, R)

*Premise spoilers*

*Note: right up top, don’t get anywhere near this movie if you have any type of seizure disorder. Flashing/strobe effects galore.*

This is a wild horror movie, and I still don’t know what to make of it. It’s interesting, it’s brutal, it only has six characters and yet is somehow kind of overstuffed, it’s weird and trippy, and it’s probably not as Capital-I Important as it thinks it is. But I found myself with oodles of affection for the two main characters and Joel Fry is fantastic in it, so here we are.

Dr. Martin Lowery volunteers for a supply run to see his former colleague, who’s been studying mushrooms and soil fertility in a national park outside Bristol. Alma, a park guide, leads him on the two-day trek through the forest to Dr. Wendle’s camp, but something is very wrong. No one’s heard from Dr. Wendle in months, and there’s something strange in the woods. Could it be connected to Parnag Fegg, the folkloric spirit of the forest?

This movie was filmed in 2020 and takes place during the pandemic, although the virus plays less of a narrative role within the film and more a thematic and practical one. When it comes to themes, the idea of isolation and disconnection is important, both among people and between humans and nature. We certainly look at the danger of being alone for too long. And as for the more practical function, I’m assuming COVID was a factor in making a movie with such a small cast out in the middle of nowhere—when I say it only has six characters, I mean literally six, and two of them aren’t even in it for very long.

The story? Honestly, I’m writing this review just after watching the movie, and I’m still trying to get my head around it. Like Requiem, it’s the sort of horror movie where it’s not immediately obvious if you’re dealing with purely human horrors or if there’s something supernatural in there too. The film comes at the central mystery from two angles, religious/mystical and scientific/natural, although elements of one bleed into the other. Unsurprisingly, Martin and Alma get tangled up in all of it, and their physically-taxing but predictable supply run becomes a dangerous headtrip full of nightmare fuel for the both of them.

Strong acting all around. I really love Ellora Torchia as Alma—Torchia looks familiar to me, but while IMDb shows me I’ve seen her in several things, I can’t really place her in them. Alma is hyper competent and half Martin’s size, and she’s determined to get him through this safely, come hell or high water. But for all her skills and toughness, she’s also not a superwoman. She gets terrified, she cries, and not all of her ideas for getting out of their situation pan out. In short, she’s amazing but human, and Torchia’s ground performance is just excellent. Reece Shearsmith, who I always think of first for his brief appearance as Patrick Troughton in An Adventure in Space and Time, is very good as Zach, a man Martin and Alma encounter living in the forest. He’s able to be creepy in this down-to-earth, almost nonchalant way, which keeps you feeling off-kilter throughout his scenes. Rounding out the main cast is Hayley Squires as Dr. Wendle. I’ll avoid spoilers on how she comes into play within the film, but Squires is very effective in the role. And since, again, the cast is so small, I’ll also mention John Hollingworth and Mark Monero, who are working out of the lodge on the edge of the forest where Martin quarantines at the start of the movie.

And then there’s Joel Fry as Martin. Oh Martin, my hurt/comfort babygirl! Even before all the creepy/trippy stuff really gets started, my man is having the worst week of his life. He’s cold and wet and doesn’t know how to put his tent together. On their trek, they have to keep stopping to rest because he’s spent the last fourth months stuck inside without exercise during a pandemic. When their shoes get stolen, he immediately cuts his foot, staggers through the woods on a makeshift crutch, and then cries as it gets stitched up. 

Look, Martin is not equipped to handle any of this. He doesn’t have wilderness skills, survival skills, or street smarts, and once the creepy stuff does start going down, he’s freaked out basically the whole time. But he’s here, he’s trying, and he doesn’t want to die. And, wonderfully, he also really wants to be there for Alma in the way that she’s there for him. He doesn’t always manage it, but he comes through for her when it counts the most. As they go through this harrowing, bewildering experience together, their whole dynamic is great, and I love them both.

Something I love about Joel Fry is that his characters rarely cry in a “tough” or stoic way. The whole scene of Martin’s injured foot getting stitched up is so, so good. Horror fans might focus more on the creep factor of the situation or the gross shots of the gash in his foot, but throughout, I’m entirely focused on Martin: how he tries to brace himself but still instantly writhes in pain, how his hand shakes as he covers first his eyes, then his mouth, and how he whimpers as Alma gently tells him he’s doing really well. Just the fact that Martin cries when he’s scared or in pain—not only when he’s sad—is something you wouldn’t see a lot of male actors do. I love that Fry doesn’t shy away from giving us characters who are really sensitive. That’s so great to see, especially for a Black man.

While this is a more dramatic role, given all the horrors Martin is entangled in, Fry still brings some nice levity in moments. I adore this scene, early in the trek, when Martin and Alma are setting up camp. As he struggles with his tent, Martin keeps up a running commentary, mumbling, “Everyone’s good at something. Some people are good at some things, other people are good at other things. It’s normal. It’s completely normal. Grown up in a city, I don’t know how to do these things.” Then when Alma offers to help him, he looks over and exclaims, “You’ve finished yours?”, dropping his tent in his surprise. I already liked Martin, but this was the moment I knew I was going to love him.

Accent Watch

Maybe a tiny bit posher than Fry’s own accent? It’s hard to tell.

Recommend?

(Note: both of these are, again, with the big caveat of “not if you have any type of photosensitive disorder!!!”)

In General – Maybe. I still haven’t sorted it all out in my head, but the performances are great, the cinematography is stellar, and I do find it interesting.

Joel Fry – Oh yes! Martin, my beloved—this is another fantastic performance from Fry.

Warnings

Intense flashing/strobing effects, graphic violence, disturbing images, language, smoking, and strong thematic elements.

Other Doctor Lives: I Am Dina (2002)

This is quite the film. I’m not quite sure what I think of it. It has a lot of intense, depressing moments but also surprising flashes of humor, and the protagonist practically dares you to like her. For certain, I can say it’s a striking movie.

As a child, Dina’s mother is killed pretty horrifically in an accident, one her father blames her for. In his grief, he washes his hands of Dina, and she grows up half wild, with no one showing her affection but her kind tutor. When she reaches adulthood, Dina’s life becomes a series of adventures and misfires: travel, her music, lovers, and more. Wherever she goes, she’s headstrong and ferocious. Dina’s fascination with death follows her throughout her life.

It's a Norwegian film, based on a novel. I’ve never read the book, but to me, the film feels like it combines the misfortunes of Tess of the D’Urbervilles, the escapades of Tom Jones, and the gothic sensibilities of Jane Eyre, all filtered through a thoroughly Scandinavian bent. I don’t know whether it all works, but it’s compelling.

The film covers a lot of ground, such that it’s held together more by its characters and themes than by a clearly driven plot. It’s interesting to watch Dina alternately draw in, enrage, and unsettle those around her, with her indifferent manners, wildly stubborn independent streak, and offputtingly intense gaze. She causes trouble for some and solves problems for others, but her foremost interest is usually herself.

As I said, after young Dina witnesses the accident that kills her mother, she develops a lifelong fascination with death. Whether watching a public execution with rapt attention or considering killing an inattentive lover, death is never far from her. When she sees someone on the verge of death, she repeatedly murmurs, “Look at me,” wanting to see in their eyes the moment when they let go.

The cast draws from around Europe—mainly Scandinavia, but with a few French, British, and Scottish actors thrown in for good measure. Perhaps because of that, the film is performed in English rather than Norwegian. Marie Bonnevie, who I’ve seen before in Another Round, gives a full-throated performance as Dina, anchoring the film with her intensity. The movie also includes Pernilla August (Shmi Skywalker from the Star Wars prequels) as Dina’s doomed mother and Mads Mikkelsen as the shifty stepson of Dina’s husband. (That husband, by the way, is played by Gérard Depardieu, so ugh to that.)

Christopher Eccleston doesn’t have much of a presence until the second half of the film, but once he and Dina meet, he takes on a pretty prominent role. He plays Leo Zhukovsky, a Russian national whose travels take him to Norway. Other characters enjoy poking at his revolutionary ideals, demanding to know whether he’s an anarchist and belittling the servants to “demonstrate” that the working class is too ignorant to need liberating. He claims to be no one; he is only his mission.

Dina is taken with Leo from the first. He’s unlike the other men in her port village, as she notes, “Does not smell like a seaman, and he reads Russian poetry.” He’s the only person whose gaze is as piercing as hers, although his is warmer. As she watches him casually, confidently brush off the aspersions the villagers cast on his political views, you can feel her world shift on its axis.

I really like how Eccleston plays Leo. He’s a revolutionary with a talent for rubbing elbows in finer society, and while he certainly rubs some the wrong way, he does it in an offhand, almost cheerful manner. As others try to “gotcha” him with questions about his ideology, he snaps off nonchalant bon mots like, “You cannot steal property. Property is theft,” and, “I happen to be the first of my generation, just as you are the last of yours.” He often has an untouchable air about him, unruffled, but when he shows his feelings, it’s clear he feels deeply. There’s an excellent scene where he’s responding to something that Dina says in a desperate situation, and his smile cracks as his laughter shifts to the verge of tears.

Accent Watch

Russian.

Recommend?

In General – Maybe. Like I said, I haven’t quite made up my mind about the film, but it was definitely an experience.

Christopher Eccleston – I think so. Eccleston uses a deft hand here, deepening an already interesting character with his performance.

Warnings

Violence (including rape,) disturbing images, sexual content, language, drinking/smoking, and strong thematic elements (including suicide.)

Y tu Luna también: Pan y circo: Season 2, Episode 2 – “Democracy in Crisis” (2021)

This is a topic that’s felt depressingly familiar in the U.S. in recent years, and it’s been troubling to see the rise of far-right parties in numerous countries around the world. This episode examines the threat to democracy globally but, naturally, focuses specifically on the political situation in Mexico.

Here are some highlights from the dinner discussion:

• Over Zoom, Diego Luna speaks to a Chilean politician about the landscape there, both in the present and under Pinochet’s regime – After discussing the strong tendency of leaders to cling to/amass more power, she says, “That’s why institutions matter. Because they have to remain stronger than whoever’s in power.”
• A political analyst argues that Mexico’s current political system isn’t actually a democracy – “What’s incredible is that democracy isn’t possible in a society that lives in fear. If there’s fear, you can call it many things, but it’s not democracy.”
• The general secretary for Mexico’s Morena party agrees with that – “We assume we already live in a democracy. But, just under the surface, there are many undemocratic elements in most decision-making processes from the past decades.”
• A member of the National Indigenous Council focuses on political organizers who’ve been murdered in Mexico – “A country that kills people working for democracy makes you wonder what kind of democracy we’re building.”
• For all of the country’s political struggles, the general secretary hasn’t given up hope – “I’m optimistic. I think Mexico’s at a point where the new isn’t born and the old hasn’t died. That’s where we have a great opportunity. We can either reinvent the old political culture or build a new one.”
• The political analyst argues that, in building democracy, they shouldn’t let the perfect become the enemy of the good – “Good outcomes aren’t guaranteed! The expectation that democracy will give us a perfect government is a lack of understanding of the nature of humanity. Our imperfection means we can only remedy problems, not solve them with an ideal government.”
• Another Zoom guest, a journalist, recalls President López Obrador’s promise to make Mexico safer. It was a promise that led many people to vote for him, but he’s since ignored those words – The journalist repeats the president’s earlier claim, saying, “We have to stress this. Soldiers belong in barracks, not streets.”
•  A Chilean scholar and activist, participating over Zoom, examines how the end of Pinochet’s regime led into the country’s current political struggles – “The democracy that came after the dictatorship was so corrupted that it created a leadership crisis.”

This is certainly another issue that resonates deeply with Diego Luna. In his opening voiceover, he says, “It seems democracy is one step away from breaking down, waiting for the next dictator to put an end to it.” He highlights the number of candidates in the current election who’ve been murdered, and he talks over Zoom with participants in Chile to give greater context to the situation in Mexico while also broadening the conversation to include other parts of Latin America. At the same time, he continues to feel hopeful about the possibilities of the future—he tells the guests, “It’s great to feel a part of change, part of the construction of a new reality and the transformation of an environment. That makes you want to live in it.”

And as always, I like his interactions in the kitchen. Instead of assisting the main chef this time around, he takes the lead on the meal, getting help from professionals but doing a lot of the cooking himself. He discusses democracy with the chef who’s helping him. When the chef says that absolute power is needed in his work, Luna suggests the emendation, “The kitchen isn’t democratic, but hunger is.” And I enjoy a little moment when Luna tastes one of the spicier ingredients. The chef warns him, “It’s hot. Be brave!” A few seconds later, Luna chokes a little as he admits, “…I was trying to look cool.” Amid heavy subject matter, it’s nice to get these moments of levity.