Just Above the Surface of the Earth (For a Coming Extinction) [2024]

1. Five uninterrupted minutes of listening for frogs.
2. A tidepool is a microenvironment.
3. Sitting in a chair amidst the tallgrass.

A haunting, exquisitely made documentary centered on an assortment of citizen scientists performing their own documentation–of various creatures (such as starfish, frogs and bats) under environmental stress as the climate rapidly changes. Rather than hew to a singular narrative “voice,” Milhorat has chosen a “chorus” of observers and narrators to provide a sort of poetic commentary on what we see.

It’s a shame that most viewers will probably not be able to see this under ideal conditions, i.e. in a theatre on a big screen, where the stunning visuals and 5.1 surround sound mix create a truly immersive experience.

This is a wistful film that deftly avoids the anthropomorphizing so common to nature documentaries.