Set in the dark world of Monotropa Terrain, the seemingly amphibious characters portrayed in Bartos’ latest film seem to be in an embryonic process of taking form, merging or splitting, as if trying to become a hybrid, dual-form of creature. Moving through plant infested ponds and puddles of mud, the symbiotic movements of Bartos characters remind us of the sensual and mysterious ballets often seen in early documentaries on cell reproduction, or fungus and insect life. Monotropa plants are often mistaken for a fungus. They lack chlorophyll pigments, which give plants their green color, Hence they don’t feed using photosynthesis. Monotropa can grow on the dark, dense forest floor covered by leaves and debris. It creates a hybrid relationship with fungi that produces sugar by becoming a parasite to photosynthetic plants and fungi. It tricks the fungi into feeding them, effectively reversing the traditional food chain.