In The Earth reviewed by Mark Kermode

Mark Kermode reviews In The Earth. In the middle of a pandemic, a scientist and his guide head out into the woods to bring supplies to an isolated researcher.
Please tell us what you think of the film -- or Mark’s review of the film. We love to include your views on the show every Friday.
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[@lmaololroflcopter]

I can't quite wrap my head around Ben Wheatley possibly directing The Meg 2.

[@lukebradley8952]

I still can’t quite wrap my head around why he didn’t stick with Tomb Raider 2. No idea why he dropped out of that.

[@Onmysheet]

He must've been given an offer he cannot refuse.

[@ntube7]

There’s no possible about it, he’s definitely doing it!

[@jonobrow]

2:55 "'A joyous experience' - Mark Kermode", good one for the DVD case.

[@late_privktorian_era]

love wheatley but i felt like this was sorta mediocre. worth watching but nowhere near being his best effort.

[@rossleeson8626]

Watched this film. Thought it was terrible. Aside from one moment which was hilarious.

[@davidholgate123]

That's quite normal for a film liked by Mark, to be honest.

[@alexanderulv3886]

@@wormswithteeth oh yes. Please Take me to the hospital 🥺

[@rossleeson8626]

@@wormswithteeth ​ @Alexander Ulv Yeah. Haha I can't even remember if the film made sense.

[@barbarakirk3064]

The reference to Reece Shearsmith as Robert Plant made me smile!

[@slythefamilydrone]

I thought that as soon as I saw him, couldn't unsee!

[@PlumbobMillionaire]

Like most horrors, I felt that it fell apart in the final act but it had a lot of interesting elements to it overall.

[@rbdriftin]

"It just got too weird and trippy." Sign me up.

[@kimflores6359]

not enough for me

[@londonladxxx]

Felt like a long episode of inside number 9

[@iutopian9322]

I really wanted to love it as I adore Kill List; and it started out very well with the post-pandemic mystery and some fantastic strobe chase scenes but it soon fell flat in the second half of the film, probably due to the pacing and plot. The hallucinogenic sequences really took me out of the moment, they were poorly done and felt jarring and studenty. That being said, I think I need to watch it again, I feel like it my opinion might improve with a second viewing, though it's certainly not anywhere near as good as Kill List and A Field in England. Good to see Wheatley return to independent cinema.

[@0murchu224]

Thought it was the most realistic hallucinogenic visuals I've ever seen

[@iutopian9322]

@@0murchu224 What? Ink dripping into water. Isn't that the first thing students do when they want to make surreal images? I thought Midsommar had the most realistic hallucinogenic images but my favourite would probably be Enter The Void.

[@0murchu224]

@@iutopian9322 not being or never having been a film student I couldn't tell you. As someone who used to self medicate in similar settings as well as admittedly partaking in straight up hedonism I felt the imagery resonated with my experiences. I guess it's just my perception

[@delbongo]

I’m always rooting for him because his work is often truly eccentric, but I’ve never even come close to enjoying one of Ben Wheatley’s films. I don’t know whether to give this a punt or not, the trailer was really intriguing

[@rossleeson8626]

Yeah I am the same with his films. I like whats going on, but I never remember them well, and they rarely illicit a reaction from me.

[@Patrick-jj5nh]

Not enjoyed a film of his since Down Terrace really, bits of Kill List I liked...but still very much rooting for him, he's at least got a voice and a definitive idea of what he wants to create.

[@timk6181]

I loved Kill List, and Free Fire is underrated, but his others are... interesting. Admirable but unlikeable.

[@Patrick-jj5nh]

@@timk6181 I forgot Free Fire, that one was quite enjoyable true!

[@davesmith7812]

Agreed...i don't rate him highly - his first two films were promising, but this is poor. No narrative, no characters, nothing going on below the surface...it's just silly colors and noises, bits of different and better movies thrown together....for me Peter Strickland is the true British auteur, not this guy

[@MercuryCircuit]

Just watched this a few days ago and enjoyed it immensely. Ben Wheateley is an incredible talent in Cinema that I haven't witnessed anywhere else in recent times. I still laugh and love Sightseers everytime I watch it. Big thumbs up from me and am looking forward to how he deals with The Meg 2. I hope he comes home after and continues to give us gems like he has so far. Good on you Ben and wish you well :)

[@daffyphack]

In The Earth or as I like to call it "Torturing Mark's Foot"

[@akerfeldt4068]

I really wanted to like it, but it seemed like a deliberately low budget version of Annihilation. Some of the acting was dreadful.

[@THEDONTTELLSHOW]

Wasn't Annihilation just a high budget version of Stalker? without the tension.

[@akerfeldt4068]

@@THEDONTTELLSHOW I've not seen that, but I will watch it this weekend now, cheers.

[@sepiarain]

Agreed, I was really disappointed. On paper this was absolutely right up my street, but in execution, it just dragged.

[@terrysilvester4720]

@@akerfeldt4068 Do yourself a favour and watch Stalker. It’s one of the greatest films ever made.

[@docjrae]

I disagree. ALL of the acting was dreadful :D

[@humanrays]

This caused a walk-out at my cinema lol.

[@detroittechno7904]

I imagine there’s always someone who walks out of Ben Wheatley film.

[@stoptrudeau42]

Why ? Lol

[@iPVPTV]

Just sat down at home after seeing this and I thought it was fantastic. Visually stunning and really great performances. The score during the more hallucinatory scenes just elevated the tension and weirdness of the film all the more. Wheatley does this type of thing so well. I do think that A Field in England is conceptually a stronger film and Kill List is more trim and direct but this is definitely no slouch. 100% worth a watch if you enjoyed either of the other two.

[@ndarcy92]

Once it got to the woman from 'I, Daniel Blake' doing an awful posh accent and playing Vangelis style synths to trees, I decided it was possibly one of the worst films I've ever seen.

[@filthybrown]

damn i loved that part haha

[@iPVPTV]

Are you really such a humourless dimwit that you cant see how great that was

[@ndarcy92]

@@iPVPTV rather a humourless dimwit than a pompous ass

[@mrjamescurry]

God i adored it. And when it delivered, wow. Beautiful stuff. More please Mr Wheatley.

[@WAAAAAAAAAAAY]

Watched this in a cinema, sight-unseen - saw that a new Ben Wheatley was out and bought a ticket without knowing anything about it. It didn't terrify me in the same way as A Field In England and Kill List but it is a wonderful sensory experience imo. Clint Mansell is a genius

[@iPVPTV]

Totally agree with this. Wasn't as visceral as Kill List or as mind bending as A Field in England but goddamn if I wasn't thoroughly gripped for the entire thing. Would be hard pressed to spend a tenner or anything better than that.

[@slythefamilydrone]

Thought it looked and sounded incredible. Third act doesn't quite come off but its great fun and such a brilliant cinematic experience

[@Rjgj55hyrfhut]

If this film had come out in the 70s it would have been a masterpiece. It just needed to look more 70s.

[@richardtyson100]

i thought it was rubbish

[@ntube7]

Just seen it on Sky Cinema. Enjoyed it, felt like A Field in England sequel of sorts. Excellent score and the spooky sound effects played on the speakers in the forest reminded me of Berberian Sound Studio.

[@borael3123]

I thought the strobe lights sections were obnoxious and borderline offensive. Other than that it was pretty interesting

[@mammamiaculpa]

i thought it was not great, but definitely very good. though i found the tension and the horror waning in the third act, the assured directing from wheatley nevertheless kept me engaged right until the end. definitely a CINEMA experience

[@eph42]

Great premise, with some great moments but feels like he filmed the first draft and its just a frustrating mess by the end.

[@larrythunder2853]

Great premise? What premise??

[@markw.loughton6786]

it was weird, but I thought the clash between science and superstition could of been explored in a more depth, it kind of reminded me of "The happening" in places, when the scientist started doing her superstar DJ thing, it lost me. but the plus side is the two leads we're great, the antagonists were great, the situation in which it was filmed would likely make a great movie biography one day. am a huge fan of Wheatley, I think he is brilliant. This film will one day become a cult classic. I'd really love a sequel to KILL LIST, so much potential mythology in that movie that could be expanded for a sequel.

[@audiodead7302]

Overall I very much enjoyed it and it is a great companion piece to AFIE and KillList. I kind of agree with some of the criticism of other reviewers (the script is a bit directionless, acting is a bit wooden,....) that it doesn't quite stand up to modern sensibilities. But for me, it is a great homage to The Owl Service, Quatermass, and other great 70's British horror / sci fi. Its weaknesses are also its strengths.

[@THEDONTTELLSHOW]

Is Wheatley back on form? His last two were moderate imo

[@THEDONTTELLSHOW]

@@Flike245 It was solid, and I loved that he was returning to his realist roots. But I felt we'd been there before, several times plot wise.

[@lukebradley8952]

Free Fire is my favourite of his, personally.

[@thebigjuggalobowski]

Gotta say I loved Kill List quite a lot, but every other Ben Wheatley film I’ve seen otherwise seems broken. I honestly thought this was his worst film and maybe one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. I can’t say enough about how much I hated it. I’m actually a little angry thinking back on it I hated it that much….

[@theorz8698]

Maybe that was his intention; to get you angry.

[@Lacking_something]

What was the film mentioned at 1:09 - supposed to be a lost 1970s film - "Anterim" or something?

[@kuldesak1945]

Antrum.

[@docjrae]

"Antrum" (2018)

[@cwever4585]

It's on Amazon Prime, I think. Not perfect, but definitely worth a watch.

[@Lacking_something]

@@cwever4585 thankyou. I don't dabble in such space age shenanigans. I've added the dvd to my Cinema paradiso list! 😀

[@neilparnell2089]

loved it

[@sasukeikari]

So Alma was in contact with the forest entity and that one evil doctor lady dies bcuz she couldn't handle it? Thats why Alma ends the movie with telling him to follow her, she will guide him out of the woods as if she enlightened on some dmt

[@pikeflowed]

Lots of original ideas, a trippy, mind-expanding visual sense, i like Bens movies alot, powerful and realistic -for the film-performances and a sense that you dont reeally know whats going to come at the end, unpredictable. Give it a go ! :)

[@BILLTHORPE]

I smoked a joint before seeing this!! It was amazing!!!

[@redjacemory4404]

I couldn't stop thinking it was 2001: A Forest Odyssey. lol

[@TheMovingEye]

The problem with Wheatley imho is that he confuses trippiness with cleverness, similar to Refn who confuses striking style with substance.

[@iutopian9322]

I feel like there is a lot of substance under the image with Refn though, and he's probably earned the right to produce images that. The Pusher trilogy is truly outstanding, and Drive helped reintroduced 80s aesthetic in cinema in the 2010s.

[@TheMovingEye]

@@iutopian9322 Pusher and Drive were excellent movies because they didn't try to cram subtext into a story that didn't need it, using Refn's incredible visual style to elevate an interesting story (A bit like Sicario). Valhalla, Only God Forgives and Neon Demon on the other hand are trying to be high concept and come out as overindulgent and pretentious (imho, I understand that this is subjective). As I said, I love Refn's visuals but i don't like when he tries to go for high concept. It also doesn't help that this guy is a walking car crash when it comes to talking about his work. Don't get me wrong, you don't need to explain your movies as a director (and I admire directors like Haneke for not doing it) but Refn's interviews are not doing him any favours.

[@iPVPTV]

If you can't see the genius in some of the 'trippy' sequences in this and even more so in A Field in England I have to wonder whether you really watched it.

[@TheMovingEye]

@@iPVPTV C'mon, no need to use the "you just don't get it (even though its obvious)" argument. You can either share your experience with the movie or you can agree to disagree, both options are much fairer.

[@bbbylw]

1:08 What film is he referencing here? Can't make out the title.

[@rivella5]

I think he mentioned Antrum en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antrum_%28film%29

[@CorbCorbin]

Antrum It’s a fun concept, but I didn’t really enjoy it.

[@Sir-Sidney-Ruff-Diamond]

Antrum (2018)

[@YZaccount]

Couldn't finish this. I feel like Mark is too close to the director for a review in this case

[@iansmith8783]

i don't think i got what the point of it all was. flickery-flashy bits are arresting on their own but not a good substitute for story-telling. not as good as his other films. though, i have to say, i didn't really get sightseers either, the first time i watched it. but the second time, i loved it.

[@TheNinjaMarmot]

It was horrible. The lucid parts went far too long. I felt like I wasted my time watching this. Its like being stuck in Tate Modern with horrible bouts of diarrhoea, running around looking for the toilet.

[@MichaelHayes_s6]

They're near the lifts ;)

[@onlineenglish7065]

The toilet is in the Thomas Crapper Gallery And well worth a visit, this film not so much and made me regret the actor’s departure from Plebs even more.

[@JONESANDDUDDING]

hahahaha nailed it

[@colmcgillveray1010]

His Comus T shirt is in the same tradition.....

[@joelwilliams9636]

I am really shocked by the bad reviews from this film and how bad people disliked it, I thought it was amazing

[@victoriaryan1509]

I hate it when there's no warning about flashing images before you buy a ticket. I really wanted to see this but not a hope as I have photosensitive epilepsy. I've seen comments from people who went and they had to leave because it was too much for a normal brain! 😵🧠🤯

[@victoriaryan1509]

@@helvete_ingres4717 😆😆

[@jim586]

I finally, got to watch this last night. I agree with others that say the acting was hammy. However this, kinda, works in this form of horror. For me what let it down was the script and purpose of them being there. It was weak. Someone has already said it on the comments but it looked like a first draft. Just a bit more work and it could have been scarier and a better film. Still even in this form it’s a joy to watch compared to most film releases.

[@sambkingmusic]

Just got done watching - it was alright. You can really tell he only wrote it in 15 days, though. The psychedelic moments were fine, but the whole third act totally fell apart plot-wise and the film on the whole didn't seem to have anything interesting to say. Lovecraftian Horror is really difficult to do.

[@johnanthonyp]

It was too long. Another quibble is, unlike the national parks in the US, there is no such forest in the UK that is as vast and so remote from any semblance of civilisation as depicted in this film. That intrusive thought prevented me from suspending any disbelief and engaging fully.

[@lapislazuli5035]

This news makes me sad. I love getting lost in national parks.

[@MrMusicbyMartin]

I thought it was beautiful looking and sounding but the plot was messy and could have dropped the pandemic storyline. The actor playing Martin played it very well, comedically aghast and befuddled at his circumstances (his poor foot!) and the other three main actors all invested in their characters, but it was like they were in four different films sometimes. I’m left hoping he involves Amy Jump in future scripts, because I think the script lacked her zippy way with words.

[@crispybits3765]

I like Ben's stuff, but I struggled to get into this to be honest.

[@WesCaseyProductions]

Mark Jenkins forthcoming film what? 1:45 seconds in I can’t tell what he said

[@slythefamilydrone]

Enys Men

[@voicnoir8830]

Sooooo wanted to like it but disappointed , would have made a great BBC TV short series in the style of 70s , 80s sci-fi/horror like Quatermass

[@Jonatan606]

A horror movie with a forrest that makes creepy noises? That sounds a bit like a certain Night Shyamalan movie called The Village. Dunno if that is actually true other than that one crossover but I do like me some Ben Wheatley so I'm in.

[@barbarakirk3064]

I wasn't keen on The Village, but I did think of The League Of Gentlemen's Royston Vasey as the inhabitants wouldn't let outsiders in.

[@lapislazuli5035]

This was much, much better than The Village.

[@katiesenior9151]

Such an experience on the big screen, the sound, the trippy visuals, the gore and even the hints of comedy!

[@johnmhuizar]

Very uneven film that I liked nonetheless. Some of the people in the comments are being pretty harsh about some of its pacing issues and the psychedelic sequences but seem to be overlooking the fact that this was written and directed in two weeks with a microbudget--judged on those terms it's honestly pretty incredible.

[@chriscunningham8703]

I found it pretty boring, interesting concept, poor execution!

[@felyxmillicent6538]

Brilliant film.

[@cwever4585]

I haven't seen it yet, but I can already tell from all the "loved it/hated it" comments that it will at least be interesting. As are most Ben Wheatley entertainments to date. I haven't loved them all (I found A Field In England a bit baffling, while still pretty absorbing), but I know it's not going to be "quiet quiet quiet bang" cinema, at least.

[@lomax343]

Yes, this is definitely a marmite film. Love it or hate it - no middle ground. Frankly, I hated it.

[@SCREENSTARS43]

Let me guess you enjoyed it, while I think the director is very talented I found this to be pretentious and way too self indulgent. Basically it's just an assault on the senses the film itself makes no sense.

[@robertpetre9378]

A wood in England

[@richardwatson658]

incredibly ridiculous film, really, wtf, a bloke in the woods kidnaps them , cuts off his toes, they escape and just wait for him to catch up and they aint even bothered that much, so stupid, no story, bad acting because of bad script, cinematic as much as me walking around my local woods throwing a camera around. now shane meadows thats a good filmaker.

[@dbg32]

Was dull AF. Couldn’t wait for it to end.

[@Lacking_something]

I've watched this now ... ending incoherent?

[@vaneyck8186]

Perfect Videography,rather it was Mark

[@surfasteve68]

Pretentious boring tripe, I loved kill list but throwing together trippy imagery and wierdness for its own sake and hoping his fan boys lap it up doesn't make a satisfying film. I knew Mark would love it.

[@jayrorschach2247]

Self indulgent that people are scared to call poor for fear of being called stupid

[@uiscepreston]

This was hot garbage. It had Reece Shearsmith doing Fred Armisen doing Tommy Chong. Then it was an incoherent Misery/The Ritual ripoff. Complete miss.

[@barbarakirk3064]

Misery also came to mind during the Inside No.9 episode 'Simon Says'.

[@LegPuppy]

Rewatched Kill List the other night after watching this, that Ritual ending. His best films are the more horror trippy efforts. Are Fire was absolutely awful Loved the psychedelics scenes in this

[@waynedevonald9335]

Strange film! Didn't upstand it??x

[@michaelwood9389]

Absolute s**te, I’ve seen better end credits on films!!!

[@NikSays]

Return to form for me! Very unnerving and black comic.

[@Cpt.SnaggleTooth]

So many people have trashed this movie. I completely disagree. The ending started to come apart, but this movie did flow well. You might have to watch it a couple of times, but it did make sense. People are so quick to trash things today.

[@kimflores6359]

terrible film in my opinion

[@fredfat3128]

wheatley gets progressively worse after the high point of kill list

[@dennisnordlund902]

Probably the worst movie the last couple of years, if you honestly need to check your pretensiousness. 🥴

[@JONESANDDUDDING]

style over substance, except the style wasn't all that intriguing either

[@caseymckenzie8065]

This movie sucked at every level

[@pedrodelawasp]

Endured an hour of it and could do no more. Utter pi$h

[@darkdancer1983]

It was pretty bad albeit memorable

[@kendo5862]

Dreadful …

[@Joe-ov2nl]

Quite like Ben Wheatley but his films always feel like sketches, like they're not fully achieved. Sounds like this is the same.

[@nmanifold]

Ben Wheatley, the most over-rated director of these times.

[@ryanbelmontryan]

Wheatley and Ari Aster are the most over-rated directors currently working. How they get funding is beyond me.

[@henriashurst-pitkanen8735]

"People just really don't get Scorcese's true genius and you probably don't even understand Tarkovsky's "The Mirror"." - Opinionated Movie Bloke

[@keiransimmons3388]

Film was terrible, beyond losing 2 or 3 decibels from the actual epilepsy triggers the story is completely barebones without the style to back it all up. The trailer as well was a complete lie.

[@juliandangelillo2143]

Great movie. People that didn't like it didn't like The Witch neither, cause they couldn't understand it, so they found it laughable.

[@JONESANDDUDDING]

The Witch is my favourite horror of the last decade but I hated this. The Witch actually has thematic depth and character arcs and is you know, not boring.