Plot summary

The film begins with a quote from John Muir: "And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul." The words fade out and the scene becomes one at a park ranger's station. As voices on the radio go through a morning check in, Ranger Varney emerges from his small cabin, and tapes a piece of paper to the 'Ranger In' post with an ominous message written on it: "I owe this land a body." Ignoring calls from the radio for him, he disappears into the forest. It then cuts to various scenes of a deep dark forest, which become slightly more tilted until completely upside down. The camera then zooms up (into the ground) and the title of the movie appears in the cold black earth: "Lovely, Dark, and Deep."Lennon (Georgina Campbell) is driving her car through the forest at night, listening to a radio station where people are talking about all the mysterious disappearances of campers in national parks, and how park rangers seem to do nothing about it. She stops her car to grab something from her glove box, and when she looks back up a black female deer is standing in the middle of the road looking at her. When Lennon looks down and back up again, the doe has mysteriously vanished.At the main ranger's station, Lennon and some other rangers are getting ready for a meeting. The others, not aware that the new girl is Lennon, start talking about her. Ranger Jackson (Nick Blood) comes up and introduces Lennon to them, much to their embarrassment. Jackson remarks on how Lennon has wanted this job for quite some time. In the main meeting room, Head Ranger Zhang (Wai Ching Ho) finishes her training for all the Backcountry Rangers gathered. Lennon looks over at a Missing Poster on the wall; it is for Ranger Varney. "Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but memories, and kill nothing but time," Zhang reiterates to the group.Later, as Lennon unpacks her car, a cute older couple come up to her. They are Mr. and Mrs. Finley, friends of Lennon's, and have come to say goodbye. They also mention that they will be hiking in the woods soon. They comment that Lennon's parents must be so proud of her for getting this new job, to which Lennon grimaces and simply says, "Yep."Jackson and Lennon are taken by helicopter to their stations in the remote parts of the backcountry forest. Lennon is dropped off and the helicopter continues on. She walks to her cabin, which is the same one from the beginning of the film, but the ominous note taped on the post is gone. Lennon gets settled into her new home for the next three months. She puts her belongings away, such as food, supplies, and a small handgun for self-defense. Before going to bed Lennon marks "Ranger Station" in its location on a large map beside her bed. Lennon has previously marked the map with notes such as "Gone" and "Shoe." There's a Missing poster of a Jenny Lennon taped near the map. She looks at an old photograph of when she was a kid, with her little sister and mom and dad at the park. Lennon reads from a "Missing 411" book. (This is a real book.