Disclaimer: This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. The Blogging Banshee fully supports those on strike and wrote this review in accordance with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA guidelines. You can learn more about the strikes and how to show your support by clicking the links provided above.

Lovely, Dark, and Deep had its world premier at Fantasia International Film Festival 2023. The film follows Lennon, a park ranger who finally lands her dream position staying in a back country ranger station, hoping to spend her days investigating a traumatic event from her childhood that happened in the same national park. As Lennon ventures deeper into the unknown, she comes to face a truth more shocking than she could have imagined. This film was written and directed by Teresa Sutherland (The Wind, Midnight Mass). While horror fans will likely be familiar with Sutherland’s work as a writer, Lovely, Dark, and Deep is her directorial debut.

There is a lot to enjoy about Lovely, Dark, and Deep. After an unsettling cold opening sets the tone, the film takes its time allowing the audience to get to know the protagonist, Lennon. We watch as she begins her new job and makes her way to the remote ranger station that will be her home for the next three months. At first, the audience is given clues that reveal Lennon’s true intentions for wanting this position so badly. It helps the audience to better understand her and allows for a fascinating character study on the lasting impact of trauma and grief and how that impact can last a lifetime. Lennon’s story is a tragic one, and it’s clear a lot of care went into creating her character and crafting her person journey, adding a lot of heart to the story. Because of the way her character is built up throughout the film, the ending does leave certain unanswered questions, but it’s not enough to detract from the power behind this story.

Sutherland also takes great care creating a terrifying mythos around the frequency of strange disappearances that happen in national parks. It combines the best elements of true crime and cryptid investigations, as if Sutherland took the strangest episode of a show like Unsolved Mysteries and turned it into a feature film. The film even features some exposition through podcast listening and what some might call a “murder board” featuring clues to help Lennon’s investigation. Because Sutherland is creating her own mythos, it adds to the mystery of the disappearances and makes each reveal all the more frightening. There is also just enough left to the imagination of the audience. This helps to build the suspense and allows the audience to come to their own conclusions as Lennon is thrown into increasingly chaotic situations. What is shown throughout the film is sure to make some people reconsider visiting the woods anytime soon.

Horror fans will immediately recognize recent breakout star Georgina Campbell (Barbarian, Bird Box: Barcelona) as Lennon. Throughout much of Lovely, Dark, and Deep, Lennon is on her own, so Campbell’s performance is vital to the success of the film. Luckily, Campbell is wholly up to the task. She portrays the character in a way that shows emotional depth and inner turmoil as Lennon balances the duties of her job as well as her own personal agenda. She also comes across as a person entirely at home in the remote wilderness, which is an important trait to have for a park ranger. Other compelling performances come from Nick Blood (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) as veteran park ranger, Jackson, and Wai Ching Ho (Daredevil) as Lennon’s boss, Zhang.

From beautifully haunting locations to disturbing imagery, the visuals of Lovely, Dark, and Deep help create a sense of terror and unknown. To even get to Lennon’s ranger station, she has to be dropped off by a helicopter. All that can be seen for miles around her are trees and outcroppings of granite boulders, with no other people aside from the occasional hiker or camper. There’s so much space, yet the lack of humanity creates a crushing feeling of loneliness. As things become more sinister, there are plenty of practical effects and bizarre set designs delivering horrors that are sure to disorient and frighten the audience.

Lovely, Dark, and Deep gives audiences a new reason to fear going out into the wilderness. It’s difficult to imagine a better directorial debut for Sutherland. She manages to write a compelling story about battling childhood trauma that also delivers a plot seemingly tailor-made for true crime and cryptid enthusiasts. Campbell’s performance only makes the source material even more captivating to watch, and the disturbing and disorienting imagery of the final act delivers the fear. I know I won’t be going into the woods alone for a while, but if you decide to take that chance just remember these words repeated throughout the film, “Leave nothing but footprints. Take nothing but memories. Kill nothing but time.”

OVERALL RATING: 8.5/10