Something in the Dirt has the gritty DIY-vibe of the no-budget world from which it sprang, and is both thought-provoking and crazy-making, just like the mood it presents.

Ultimately, Something in the Dirt doesn’t quite convince as a genuine mystery -- and it doesn’t seem to be meant to. Having fun with the artifice of it all seems far more to the point.

What it has in abundance is genuine sadness. Benson and Moorhead direct and shoot their film smartly, but their performances are what ground it and give it shape.

Something in the Dirt‘s best moments and its faults come from this central relationship, which both offers a kind of bewildered comedy and a too-familiar depiction of a friendship undone.