In the Earth is a psychedelic horror movie written and directed by Ben Wheatley of A Field in England and Kill List. It stars Joel Fry, Reece Shearsmith, Hayley Squires and Ellora Torchia.
The plot concerns a scientist and a forest ranger who ventures out into the woods to make contact with another scientist conducting a mysterious experiment in the woods. They get much more than they bargained for.
Tropes:
- Agony of the Feet: A real cavalcade of this trope. After getting his shoes stolen, Martin steps on a spiked stone booby trap and severely cuts the bottom of his foot. It gets crudely stitched up without anesthetic, but becomes infected. Several of his toes get cut off with an axe to stave off infection, again without anesthetic, and his toe stumps must later get cauterized.
- Batman Gambit: Zack steals Alma and Martin's shoes and then leaves hidden spikes on the ground, counting on one of them injuring their foot and requiring help.
- Bathos:
- Zach's ludicrously protracted forced amputation of Martin's toes. As Martin begs him to stop, Zach swings the hatchet down time and again, just barely missing Martin's foot to "practice" his aim. After assuring him that this time he'll do it for real, he again misses and blames his bad aim on Martin distracting him. Finally he hacks off a toe... and states that he still needs hack more off.
- Zach's reaction to getting a medical tool through his eye in the middle of a life-or-death brawl is to scream like a girl, look at himself in the mirror, try to pull it out, and then tell his would-be killer, "You have to take me to a hospital!"
- Clarke's Third Law: When developing film, Zach states that any technology you don't understand seems like magic. This is apparently how he justifies using magical rituals to commune with the standing stone.
- Eye Scream: Zach gets a medical tool through the eyeball. He tries to pull it out, but can't. Alma then smashes it deeper into his brain, killing him.
- Drugs Are Bad: Alma and Martin believe so.
- Drugs Are Good: Dr Wendle and Zach believe so.
- Face–Heel Turn: It turns out that Dr. Wendle is in league with Zach in spite of their differences. She betrays Martin and Alma and tries to sacrifice them to the standing stone.
- Faux Affably Evil: Zach always has a pleasant disposition toward his victims, though when he reveals his hostile intentions, he admits that being friendly in social situations is a means of gaining compliance.
- Hypocritical Humor: Early in the film, Zach repeatedly claims that they are too deep into the woods to get to a hospital to justify his brutal treatment of Martin's infected foot. In the end, when he is himself injured, he whines, "You have to take me to a hospital!"
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Is the standing stone really magical, or is everyone just addled by mushrooms?
- Minimalist Cast: The film has four main characters, with two additional characters only appearing in the first few minutes.
- Mushroom Samba: Much like in A Field in England, mushroom hallucinations are played for psychedelic horror.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: The film was written during the COVID-19 pandemic and correspondingly takes place during a global pandemic. It doesn't actually affect the story other than a few fleeting references in the first act.
- Science Versus Magic: The original source of the schism between Dr. Wendle and Zach. She wants to use science and he wants to use magic rituals.
- Tome of Eldritch Lore: Zach and Dr. Wendle have an ancient book that describes the backstory of the standing stone and has rituals for communing with it.
- Unholy Matrimony: Zach and Dr Wendle are revealed to be married, and to be in league to the plan to sacrifice to the standing stone.
- Villains Want Mercy: Even after sadistically cutting off Martin's toes, Zach still expects them to help him and whines that he wants to go to a hospital after being injured.
