CFF Review: Peter Collins Campbell’s ‘DimLand’
Peter Collins Campbell’s darkly magical romantic drama “DimLand” is an absolutely remarkable film that whisks the viewer away to a cabin in the woods alongside a young woman named Brynn and her boyfriend Laika, who are looking to escape their lives for a little while. Little do they know that shortly after arriving they’ll encounter a mysterious stranger from Brynn’s childhood that will subtly but rapidly change the trip as well as their lives moving forward.
There’s an overall gorgeous aesthetic in this movie that really heightens the storytelling with excellent cinematography, well executed visual effects, and a strikingly unique yet incredibly simple creature(?) design. It might not be a creature at all, though it actually doesn’t matter what it is, but what it means in the context of the story. The song choices also add a lot of depth to the atmosphere, and though the selection of tracks is small there’s a nice variety of musical sounds that are carefully timed for maximum effect. There’s a very small cast all of whom provide solid performances that bring their characters to life in a realistic way, but Nate Wise is is especially impressive here, as he manages to convey a whirlwind of emotion using practically just his voice to do so.
All of these elements combined end up giving the whole thing an extremely personal feel, regardless of how you choose to apply the metaphors the film provides to your own life. There’s something both massively alarming and also completely understandable about Brynn’s motivations here, though it’s left up to the viewer to decide which of these perceptions they feel stronger about. This movie explores almost universally relatable themes but manages to do so in such a creative and fresh way that it feels like a grand, bizarre fairytale while simultaneously keeping everything very emotionally grounded like a mumblecore film.
“DimLand” is a truly unique vision that’s executed perfectly, and it’s done so with an impressively minimalistic style that you won’t want to miss if any of this this sounds at all appealing to you. If you’re ready to go to the magical place in the forest for yourself, you can do so via VOD or Tubi.
