“Vast and isolated settings of the woods are often used in the horror genre, easily being able to elicit a gnawing discomfort and uneasiness. Lovely, Dark, and Deep may start by capitalizing on the spookiness of the woods, but gradually it spirals into an unfathomable fever dream that invokes just as much terror as hopelessness. Teresa Sutherland’s debut feature doesn’t bother dipping its toes into cosmic horror, and instead dives headfirst into unknowable terrors that lurk deep within the shadows of the forest and the corners of Lennon’s (Georgine Campbell) mind. Purposefully dredging up old traumas by returning to the site of it, Lennon slowly devolves from the plucky protagonist who easily traipses her way around the national park to the harrowed shell of a person who cannot differentiate reality from the more sinister imagery. We tumble down this rabbit hole beside her, braced for the haunting visuals and chilling ending…”