It would be an exaggeration to suggest that JT Petty’s The Burrowers goes miles deeper than the hastily-dug graves that play a central role in its plot, but it’s nonetheless one of the more pleasant surprises of Fantastic Fest thus far. Beautifully shot and tightly scripted, it’s the rare Hollywood genre film (bought and paid for by Lionsgate) that’s more concerned with human relationships and behavior than the mysterious supernatural forces that sets the action in motion. Though its narrative definitely turns on the actions of creatures from the unknown, said creatures turn out to be relatively easy to extinguish compared to prejudice and moral decay in the hearts of ordinary men. It plays less like a horror film than a Terrence Malick film, with a mythological MacGuffin designed to reveal dark truths about the men forced to deal with it.

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