Jennie Kermode’s Truth Revealed
After navigating the vast, often bewildering landscape of the internet for several years, one might start to feel like they have witnessed every conceivable theory. Yet, even when the flood of information is overwhelming, there are still cinematic surprises waiting to pull back the curtain on some of the deepest human fascinations.
Recently, this fascination took a strikingly philosophical turn at Fantastic Fest, where Brad Abrahams and Simon Ennis premiered their compelling film. It opens with a familiar, yet instantly arresting, reference to Plato’s allegory of the cave, setting the stage for an exploration of reality itself.
The film draws its attention immediately to the man trapped within the cave. Initially, his observations about his immediate surroundings are delivered with an almost poetic sensibility, inviting the audience to ponder the nature of perception.
But as the narrative progresses, the man’s perspective shifts. When he begins to discuss mountains, the context quickly moves from metaphor to matter. It is revealed that he does not view the physical world through the lens of geology; he actually believes that the mountains are the remnants of some forgotten, ancient civilization.
This radical belief leads him to dismiss established scientific consensus. He openly declares that concepts like plate tectonics are simply ridiculous nonsense—the kind of confusion perpetuated by those who insist the Earth is merely round.
The film thus uses the classic framework of the cave not just to explore philosophical ideas, but to provoke a powerful confrontation between ancient, intuitive knowledge and the modern, scientifically accepted narrative. It forces us to ask what happens when the foundation of our understanding is radically redefined.
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