Beauty Beneath the Dirt

2013 • 68 minutes

About this movie

What happens when you put a lawyer, an Ivy grad, and a city chick on the Appalachian Trail?

An Appalachian Trail thru-hike takes ambitious hikers on a 2,178.3-mile adventure from Georgia to Maine, trekking through some of America's most pristine state and national parks. Though many people have attempted this challenge over the years, only a small fraction actually complete the journey. Nevertheless, three young urbanites--Katherine "Ringleader" Imp, Brandon "Monkey" Imp, and Emily "Lightning" Ginger--attempt to beat the odds and summit Mt. Katahdin together.

On its surface, Beauty Beneath the Dirt is a documentary about thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. But as the days grow longer, the relationships falter, and the memories of home begin to fade away, so too do the conventional methods of filmmaking. Filled with personal stories of romance, betrayal, love, and loyalty, director Katherine Imp paints a raw and uncensored picture of how one journey can challenge, strengthen, and destroy the soul.

Ratings and reviews

If you're thinking about purchasing this film because you're interested in backpacking or the A.T., look elsewhere. This film is the "Housewives of Atlanta" of hiking docs. The director was clearly more interested in creating confrontation for the sake of drama than actually documenting anything real or relevant. This sentence from the synopsis says it all: "But as the days grow longer, the relationships falter, and the memories of home begin to fade away, so too do the conventional methods of filmmaking." Self-congratulatory directorbation at its finest. I wish I could give this film zero stars.

Patchy, jumpy, little information about the actual AT or hiking, but focuses strongly on group dynamics and personal achievement. Spoiler: Kate is controlling and bossy, but at least changes for the better, and Emily goes her own way, frankly certainly for the best, I don't find it sad, but it just revealed what they individually needed from the hike and their lives.

All of their voices annoy me. If you're looking for any good information on the AT, skip this movie. I actually turned this off within the first 10 minutes. They didn't even document them starting out on the trail. This is just not good and I wish I could get my $2 back.