Teresa Sutherland is perhaps best known to genre audiences as the writer of 2018’s The Wind. Since that project, Sutherland has turned her attention to directing, and Fantasia selection Lovely, Dark and Deep marks her first steps into feature films.
Starring Georgina Campbell of last year’s phenomenally successful Barbarian, Lovely, Dark and Deep investigates some troubling goings on in Arvores National Park. Campbell plays Lennon, a newly anointed backcountry park ranger. Her job involves spending the summer in relative isolation, deep in the park, checking trails, and helping look for hikers in trouble. The latter proves to keep her very busy as the park has an extremely high number of missing visitors. Lennon’s reasons for taking the job are not altruistic, she is still processing a trauma from her childhood and believes this position will help. However, once settled into the solitary environment, she finds herself trapped in a waking nightmare with no obvious way out.
For a first time feature, Lovely, Dark and Deep is a solid start. Sutherland uses her strengths as a writer to envelope her story with swaths of mystery. The story unfolds slowly with Sutherland gradually spinning a tightly entangled web of misdirection. The pace is a tad glacial in places, which can be a struggle, but it mirrors Lennon’s own journey into potential madness. Rather than race straight to hysteria, Lennon is afforded time to have a slow decline. Once her mask of sanity has begun to slip, Lovely, Dark and Deep goes off the deep end and becomes a distorientating swirl of loops and nightmare scenarios.
With Lovely, Dark and Deep Sutherland proves her power to tell stories visually too. There is an early inverted drone shot over the forest that sets up the eerie forbidding of the setting. Later there is a beautiful kaleidoscopic shot of tree branches shot from below. It is the beginning of the hazy decline; further imagery takes on a strange hallucinatory feel that feeds into the story beautifully.
Georgina Campbell was incredible in Barbarian and here she once more proves her horror credentials. This time she isn’t sharing the screen with any other characters, Lennon is the sole focus of the piece and Campbell handles the pressure. Her portrayal of Lennon is thoughtful and nuanced, Campbell imbuing her with realistic little traits like being a habitual nail biter. The only snag is that, despite the time spent with Lennon, the audience is never privy to much information about her outside of her trauma. It is an accurate reflection of how trauma consumes everything, but more details about Lennon are needed to forge a true bond between her and the viewer.
Despite being a bold debut from Sutherland, and another solid genre choice from Campbell, Lovely, Dark and Deep ultimately feels on the shallow side. With only surface level connections and information, this is a film that runs out of steam slightly short of its conclusion. A strong debut nonetheless, with Sutherland proving herself capable of nightmarish imagery as well as unsettling concepts.
Lovely, Deep and Dark
Summary
Georgina Campbell steps back into horror with Lovely, Deep and Dark a film that has plenty of chilling imagery, and marks a solid debut from writer-turned-director, Teresa Sutherland.
Lovely, Dark and Deep was reviewed at Fantasia International Film Festival.
