George Lomacks (Marc Blucas) mechanics business on the family farm is not going well. He hardly has any customers and the ones that he does only want to pay pennies on the dollar for the work. His youngest daughter Kim (Brooke Sorenson) has just had a baby of her own and the father is not in the picture. While his oldest Heather (Rachel McKeon) has just returned from school on a scholarship is immediately concerned once she sees the state of the family farm. Their neighbours the Dolans have three generations working their cornfields. Matriarch Kathryn (Adrienne Barbeau) works the land hard knowing the farming business inside out keeping a close eye on the new enemy the big farming conglomerates looking to buy you out to grow Frankenstein seeds on your land or set up fracking that will change the plate structure underground and affect the water table.
George However does not have the luxury to hold out with the bills mounting and his family teetering on the brink. He agrees to strike a deal that appears good upfront but the fine print exposes hidden charges and expenses that all come out of his end and not the companies. The result of his family having betrayed his neighbours, endured the dust, noise, pollution and general upheaval for the expectation of that first check feel hollow once the net per month number is known.
Directors John C Lyons and Dorota Sweis film focuses on the environmental and personal impact signing a deal with a mega-conglomerate can have. They prey on farming communities at their weakness present their generous offer then the former proud family becomes a clog in the chain their land now an industrial worksite. The script penned by Lyons and Kelsey Goldberg takes the story in a more sinister direction. The fracking has released something buried deep within the land. The substance getting into the water supply, drinking water and even finding its way into the foodstuff of Kim's young child.
Being skeptical in the face of an offer that is too good to be true and aware of the potential effect on your land, the community, and beyond are the lesson the emanate throughout Unearthed. A quiet close nit farming community is transferred quickly into a commercial drilling zone with heavy trucks, machinery, and massive rig dominating the roadways and the skyline. Generational family ties are fractured, the health of the residents put in jeopardy in the hopes of a payoff that often is not what is expected and if the disappointment is only financial that's a good thing as the film shows a much worse alternative.
*** Out of Four.
Unearth | John C. Lyons/ Dorota Swies | U.S.A. | 2020 | 94 Minutes.
Tags: Fracking, Corn Farm, Mechanic Shop, Teen Mom, Contract, Water Table, Photography.
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