The Creeping Garden

If “The Blob” creeps you out, you’ll likely be horrified to learn there are real-life equivalents all around you. What’s worse… they’re actually intelligent. Cue the science lesson from the mad researchers who make up this unprecedented docu-fantasia. Focusing on interviews with scientists, artists, and fanatics dedicated to exploring the organisms known as “slime mold,” THE CREEPING GARDEN falls somewhere between watching a big-budget science presentation and a magnificent light and color show some would refer to as a psychotropic experience. Peppered with dazzling time lapses (or shall we say time-magnification?) of the elusive organisms, we come to view these sprawling creatures as one of Earth’s hidden wonders. Often funny, always mesmerizing, and backed by an eerily atmospheric music score by multi-instrumentalist Jim O’Rourke, this work of science non-fiction is easily the slipperiest and slimiest film of the decade. But it’s also something else: sublime. – C.P.