Slamdance 2025: ‘Out of Plain Sight’ Review
Government organizations and private companies have caused permanent damage to our environment on multiple occasions, and many of their actions remain unaccounted for. Even longstanding fights about climate change have resulted in enough inaction to harm the planet and those who inhabit it. It’s precisely that kind of rash decision-making that focuses on present concerns over future ones which makes Daniel Straub and Rosanna Xia’s investigative documentary on DDT, Out of Plain Sight, an infuriating and insightful dive into the lingering devastation of a single action. Focused on a single incident, Straub and Xia survey the wide-reaching consequences of dumping toxic waste into the ocean and present a history of wanton destruction to Earth and a failure to protect the natural world we depend on.
Out of Plain Sight follows the investigative efforts of Los Angeles Times journalist Rosanna Xia as she digs deeper into the origins of barrels containing DDT discovered on the ocean floor by scientist David Valentine. Located off the coast of Southern California, half a million barrels of toxic waste had been dumped into the ocean after DDT—an insecticide promoted heavily by the government as an effective way of preventing disease in tropical areas and became a critical tool for preventing disease within agriculture as well—was banned in the United States in 1972. Straub and Xia succinctly illustrate the history of DDT and the limited understanding of the chemical’s potency and lasting impact that led to the insecticide being banned decades after its inception, and then dive into the present-day consequences of its use and subsequent disposal.
Focused primarily on the ecosystem that now permanently houses a toxic chemical that cannot be safely removed without severe financial support, Out of Plain Sight depicts the destruction of our world through malfeasance and ignorance with a steady gaze into the abyss. Unsurprisingly, the film can’t get the conversation going beyond those frustrated and impacted by the improper disposal of such a harmful chemical because those responsible aren’t as forthcoming as those affected. However, Xia’s constant presence and thorough examination demonstrate investigative journalism’s value in keeping those responsible held accountable for flippant actions.
Interviews with marine scientists, biologists, and other experts give the film’s investigation an irrefutable weight that makes up for a lack of interviews with those who need to be held accountable. It’s one of the drawbacks that always engulf films contending with corporations and organizations where any acknowledgment would reflect poorly, where addressing more than what is already known and being interrogated on something that happened a while ago could damage reputation worse than it already has been. Fortunately, the film doesn’t need to confront evil; it just needs to put a spotlight on it. Intense sequences punctuate the film, like a necropsy of a sea lion, and highlight the necessity of investigative journalism and keeping evils in plain sight.
It’s the decision to ban a chemical that is harming humans and then bury it under the sea, where it can damage another ecosystem, that is the most salient point made throughout the film. Navigating the many ways DDT has affected the ocean, the animals that inhabit it, and the people exposed to it over the years, Out of Plain Sight paints a vivid portrait of how humanity’s negligence can have far-reaching consequences on the entirety of Earth. The film reflects on that irresponsible decision multiple times to illustrate how devastating a single action can be for future generations and the world being passed down to them. The link between every living organism and how even trace amounts of DDT in something as small as a guppy could create a sequence of effects that reach beyond the ocean thanks to food chains and a deep-seated connection between ecosystems to survive.
There’s a consistently severe tone to Straub and Xia’s investigation into the barrels of DDT that reflects an ever-growing concern that things have gotten too far out of hand for us to repair what is broken. Climate change, extinction, and resource scarcity are all just examples of an environment pushed to an extreme by human intervention. There’s no sense of hope that things will get better throughout Straub and Xia’s documentary, but instead, there is an unerring desire to hold people accountable for their actions and attempt some reconciliation. However, whether it’s even possible to find a suitable equilibrium between growing industrialization and environmental sustainability seems like a long-term goal that can only be achieved through informing the public of how our actions have consequences. Out of Plain Sight is just one example of irresponsible behaviour from those in power causing irrevocable harm. Still, by bringing awareness of the damage caused, there’s a vitality to its investigation that demands to be seen.
The 2025 edition of the Slamdance Film Festival marks the 31st anniversary of the festival, taking place between February 20th to 26th and virtually through slamdancechannel.com between February 24th to March 7th.
