Parents' Guide to Something in the Dirt

"This film is dedicated to making movies with your friends," says the heartfelt dedication in the credits of this sci-fi mystery. It's that undeniably solid relationship between filmmakers Moorhead and Benson, and the characters they portray, that really gives Something in the Dirt its impact. Full of indie charm and moments of humor, as well as a complex mystery at the center that will make your head spin, what's most intriguing of all is how the relationship between two men, drifting through life, untethered and uninspired, unfolds in an increasingly bizarre situation. Things get pretty meta at times. Characters talk about naming the film, eventually settling on its real-life title, as well as referencing the film festival circuit (where the movie enjoyed much success) and the possibility of ending up on Netflix, home of a number of the pair's previous productions. Gradually the audience is left to question which events are "real" and which are reconstructions, whether there are any reliable narrators in there, and what end this mystery -- and this narrative -- could possibly take given the increasing levels of chaos and paranoia. But, as the characters ask, what's crazier: believing every coincidence you see, or ignoring all of them? There's some oddly unsettling logic to be found in what is a bizarre but enticing film that continues to herald these two as filmmakers to watch, despite its baggy runtime.