Underland is a documentary directed by Rob Petit, based on Robert Macfarlane’s 2019 book “Underland: A Deep Time Journey.” Underland held its world premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Festival in the Documentary Competition. Underworld is narrated by actress Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall), as the information of different underground environments in the USA and other countries, is provided in “chapters.”
The documentary follows individuals/teams from varied careers and backgrounds. The cameras are with team’s explorations and provide a sense of being there. All I could think about at the beginning of the film is what danger they would encounter. They are brave and enthusiastic as they seek to find what most of us don’t remotely think about each day.
The film begins in Mexico with Fátima Tec Pool, an archaeologist exploring caves with a team in her native Mexico. There is reference to the Mayan people who were known to enter caves for their rituals. It is very interesting to follow them on their exploration, how they set up camp on the lengthy mission and the discovery of where her ancestors had been.
American theoretical physicist and Princeton University physics professor, Mariangela Lisanti, is interested in dark matter and is shown to have vast resources and equipment at her and her team’s disposal.
An American “urban explorer,” Bradley Garrett enters underground tunnels around the world to see what is in that part of the world. Here we see what is in Las Vegas tunnels.
While the documentary may not have intended to be an educational story, it is most certainly eye-opening when there is documentation about pollution and more. When buying a new household appliance, does anyone know where the broken one goes to? This documentary has excellent cinematography by Ruben Woodin Dechamps to show you.
Running time: One hour and 19 minutes
Source: Tribeca Film Festival, Sandbox Films
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