Lovely, Dark, and Deep

Where do I even begin with this mess of a movie? There is so much that was poorly done about, I don't even know where I should start. It's like someone took an interesting premise, someone else wrote the most boring story surrounding it, and then you had someone completely different write the script. Disjointed, all-over-the-place storytelling that left you with more questions than you started off with, and that is never a compliment.

The first inclination that this was going to be a bad film was that it took almost 40 minutes before anything of note transpired. The initial 40 were spent with the lead wandering the woods, making her rounds as a park ranger, while also looking for someone. When the movie does get going, it's at a snails pace. I'm not joking when I say that for every minute something even remotely interesting is happening, there are 20 minutes of nonsense. Drone flying over the woods, the woods creeping upside down, trees, more woods, trees, trees, trees. That's the gist of this movie. It was almost like an advertisement for the National Parks, and this movie is probably less exciting than a ranger training video.

It's a movie that, the more you watched, the more you could tell that it didn't really have a firm direction to begin with. It was like a movie made by various people who didn't share their part of the story until the end, and the movie suffered greatly because of it. The last half hour I watched on 8X speed because I just couldn't be bothered to give this movie any more of my time.

I'm starting to notice a trend in these modern Hollywood horror films; every time a horror movies showcases any signs of D. E. I it's been awful, and you can throw this one right in the pile. It looks like the focus is on superficial elements that are more important than telling a decent story that people might actually enjoy, and that in itself is a real travesty of modern day Hollywood. I'm so glad that movies in the rest of the world aren't adhering to that nonsense. Hollywood really isn't worth the time or energy if they keep pumping out crap like this.

A total and complete waste of time. Please, for the love of all that is decent and pure, listen to me; your time is much to precious to spend it watching movies like these. Avoid this movie at all costs. It's just not good by any metric you throw at it.

When I sat down to watch this 2023 movie from writer and director Teresa Sutherland, I had never heard about the movie, so I didn't know what I was in for. But the movie's cover and title seemed interesting enough, plus the fact that it was a horror movie that I hadn't already seen, then of course I opted to sit down and give "Lovely, Dark, and Deep" a chance.

And I am glad that I did, because this movie was entertaining. Sure, I didn't fully grasp the concept of what was going on, with the 'taking' and 'them' that the rangers talked about throughout the movie. But what made the movie enjoyable to me was the acting performances, the events that took place and the way that the movie was shot. It was a rather interesting movie and it definitely had some very unique and bizare visuals, which I definitely enjoyed.

As for the narrative, well I enjoyed the story, though I have to admit that I was at a loss as to what the purpose really was of the disappearances and the mentioning of 'them' and such. But the movie proved very enjoyable nonetheless.

I was not familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, and that is something I do enjoy when I sit down to watch a movie. It is particularly enjoyable to see new talents and faces on the screen, especially when they are as talented as Georgina Campbell (the leading actress, playing Lennon) was in this movie. Her performance as Lennon was phenomenal, and she carried the movie with grace.

Visually then writer and director Teresa Sutherland put together quite a movie. There are so many great visual scenes throughout the course of the movie, and they add so much flavor to the overall enjoyment of the movie.

"Lovely, Dark, and Deep" is a movie that I definitely recommend you to sit down and watch.

My rating of "Lovely, Dark, and Deep" lands on a seven out of ten stars.

Hoping to overcome a personal tragedy, a woman treks into the wilderness under the guise of a new ranger's job which allows her to look into the past tragedy that has haunted her only to come face to face with the unwanted source of the hauntings and must battle her sanity to escape the area.

This was a decent enough if overall underwhelming genre effort. Among its few positive features here is the general sense of isolation and atmospherics that are present within here. A vast majority of the first half is spent in the confines of the forest and the wonderful use of atmospherics only enhances that with the idea of the forest being alive and toying with her which is somewhat unnerving. Enhanced incredibly well with the given backstory about her past history and the connection she has with the missing ranger friend that spurns her into going along with the trip, this gets the film off to a solid start as the motivation to get there offers quite an impressive factor to get to the surroundings around her. As it gradually dawns on her that the more she's around the forest the more she questions what she's seeing and believing, the madness that develops here as the psychological effects take centerstage manages to be the big crowning achievement in the film. As this gives way to the further connection between the events taking place and the past encounter that initially drew her to the area, this starts to take a far greater and more atmospheric turn as the inability to determine what's going on is a strong one. Taking the chance to incorporate a slew of psychological clues and disturbnances that take place to upset her, there's a lot of unnerving work throughout here as the inability to distinguish from her past hallucinations, repressed memories, or having something legitimately taking place during the stay. As these lead to further revelations about everything and what's really going on within the film, the truth being revealed the way it does is quite fun with how it comes together into a shocking mystery as to how it takes place which also utilizes the fine reveal for a lot to like here. Other than this, though, there's not a whole lot to the film as a whole. So much of this is reliant on the idea of the creepiness of the woods and the unnatural setting that's really only a normal enough forest that there's not a whole lot of action to be had here. The main part of the film which is wholly enjoyable due to the effectiveness of this build-up about her growing uncertainty with regard to what happened to her yet this is all generally dull and uneventful with how it's handled especially for those looking for something beyond just fleeting glimpses of shadows or objects in the distance. As a result, the focus on getting the type of chilling genre content usually featured here is kept to a minimum as the psychological leanings are far more featured which becomes a major stumbling block that holds this one back.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

Lovely, Dark, and Deep follows the path of a new Park Ranger going out for the summer alone in her territory. But, she has something in her past that makes us question her stability. In addition to this, there is something wrong in this forest: people go missing, and they aren't ever found.

As the movie progresses, the film starts to slip in its perspective, with reality being twisted, things in the background move, and the main character appears to go deeper into her own mind and break with her reality. This is captured well by the production.

The film has a small and slow quality to it that does make it slightly more difficult to feel connected to the character and the plot. But, there is enough there for a watch. The final resolution or twist doesn't do enough for the slower contemplative pace. It makes enough of a plotting that I'm glad I watched it, but overall it's a decent film, not great. Production is high, and the scenery well captured. The forest does almost become its own character.