THE DEEPER YOU DIG (2019)
Label: Dark Sky Films
Region Code: 1
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 90 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1)
Directors: Toby Poser, John Adams
Cast: John Adams, Toby Poser, Zelda Adams
Indie haunter The Deeper You Dig (2019) is a chilling and personal bit of ghostly business, it in goth-girl teen Echo (Zelda Adams) is close-knit with her single mom Ivy (Toby Poser), a former spiritualist turned for-profit tarot card reader. While ill-advisedly sledding in the dark of night next to a rural unlit road her daughter Echo is accidentally killed by a drunk passerby. The driver is a guy named Kurt (John Adams) who lives just down the road, where he is flipping a dilapidated old house. In this moment he makes a very bad decision, rather than accept the consequences of what was a terrible accident, he chooses to hide the body, and sure enough he gets away with it in a legal sense, the authorities briefly investigate, but write off the disappearance as another teen runaway, which Ivy instinctively knows is bogus.
Spiritually though the killer doesn't get off Scott-free, the guilt begins to chip away at his psyche, and what at first seems to be a manifestation of that inner-guilt turns out to be an actual haunting of her murderer by the headstrong teen who is dead-set on driving her killer over-the-edge. Add to that her mother's formerly waning spiritual powers get a recharge as she begins to hunt for her daughter's killer herself, slowly picking up on the vibes that her daughter's spirit is giving off.
It's a very personal bite-sized bit of of ghostly drama that has a homemade vibe about it that I loved, which makes sense since the three principle cast and production team are actually a father, mother and daughter in real-life, which I thought was cool. As a father the story of the loss of a child gets right under my skin, in a way that it probably wouldn't have in my early twenties. While it was an easy in for me I am unsure how it would play for someone in their 20's without who has not experienced the loss of a loved one yet, but for me the underlying theme of loss was palpable throughout.
I loved Zelda Adams as the head-strong, blue-haired goth teen, and was pleased that her death early on did not mean that she was gone from the film. Some of my favorite stuff was the way that Kurt struggled with his guilt, initially having to delay disposing of the body because the ground is frozen solid in the winter, burying the corpse in the woods in the spring, but then having to displace the remains when wild animals get to the shallow grave, finally having to disposing of the remains in rather gruesome fashion. As he continues to be haunted by the determined teen he starts breaking down mentally and physically, seemingly acquiring some of the teens character traits, like an appreciation of a depression era novelty song "Ain't We Got Fun" that starts creeping it's way into Kurt's daily life, and then befriending the grieving mother, their blooming relationship threatening to expose his crime.
The Deeper You Dig (2019) is a a cool indie haunter that feels like nothing else I have seen lately, the deeply personal
tale has a great forested backdrop, a fine three-person cast, and some wonderful ghostly happenings that kept me rapt for the the duration of the film, this is a solid ghost-tale, recommended.
