Underland | astronauts of the underworld explore visual splendour

There’s underground filmmaking, then there’s under-ground filmmaking. And Underland, the new feature documentary from filmmaker Robert Petit, based on the internationally best-selling book by Robert Macfarlane, is definitely an exploration of the world beneath the world beneath your feet. Luckily, the Q&As will tell you more.

Filmed entirely underground, Underland is a cinematic voyage into the hidden worlds beneath our feet – from ancient cave systems to flooded storm drains, melting glaciers, underwater burial chambers, cast iron tombs storing nuclear waste, and vast laboratories situated far beneath the Earth’s surface.

‘astronauts of the underworld’

Guiding you on this journey are ‘astronauts of the underworld’ – we’re guessing their kinda modern Orpheuses (…or is that Orpheu-i?) They include Fátima Tec Pool, who navigates the sprawling caves of the Mayan underworld; urban explorer Bradley Garrett, who photographs lost subterranean spaces; and Mariangela Lisanti, a leading dark matter physicist whose work seeks to unravel some of the Universe’s biggest mysteries.

Epic

The film is narrated by Oscar-nominated Sandra Hüller (The Zone of Interest, Anatomy of a Fall) with an original score by Hannah Peel (Game of Thrones).

So far, so epic. And to get the full down-low, the director is going on tour with the film, which world premiered at Tribeca Film Festival 2025 (the UK premiere is at the Barbican on 24 March).

Splendour

Underworld promises a ‘documentary experience that serves simultaneously as visual splendour, environmental reckoning and philosophical enquiry; a thoughtful meditation on time, memory and life upon this fragile planet’.

Tour dates below. Tickets from the venues (which you can find on our What’s On page).

THU 2 APRIL – WATERSHED BRISTOL
+ Q&A with Robert Petit
FRI 3 APRIL – PLYMOUTH ARTS CENTRE
+ Q&A with Robert Petit
WED 8 APRIL – TOTNES CINEMA
+ Q&A with Robert Petit
THU 9 APRIL – EXETER PHOENIX 
+ Q&A with Robert Petit

top image: Brad silhouette at the Topanga time tunnel

• About
• Latest Posts

D&CFilm

D&CFilm is the name for our Staff Writers here at the D&CFilm. If you'd like to become a staff, or named, writer drop us a line.

Latest posts by D&CFilm (see all)

• Rael’s Way release - October 14, 2026
• A utopia for film peeps | Exmouth Film Festival - October 13, 2026
• Cinema heritage with a community focus | Paignton Picture House - October 12, 2026