Rating of
3/4
Compelling, Bizarre Neo Noir
Chris Kavan - wrote on 06/22/19
A lot of people struggled with Under the Silver Lake. Both the hoi polloi at Cannes as well as general movie goers seemed confused and disinterested in director David Robert Mitchell's followup to the excellent horror film It Follows. Under the Silver Lake is certainly unique - a sun-drenched neo noir where urban legend and conspiracy theories collide, following a stoned voyeur-turned amateur sleuth in an off-kilter version of L.A. And while the film can best be summed up by, well, strange, for those looking for a film that falls outside the mainstream, give it a shot.
Andrew Garfield plays our stoner, way behind on rent, spying on neighbors, reading zines based on creepy urban legends and otherwise drifting through life. When he spies a cute, young new neighbor ( Sarah - played by Riley Keough), he finds himself drawn to her, leading to a late-night connection that is cut short by the arrival of her roommates and cut even shorter when they all move out and she seemingly disappears overnight. Thus begins his odyssey to find out what happened to her leading to, among other things: finding hidden messages in a popular band's lyrics; learning the dark history of a failed actor and his declaration to "Kill All Dogs" that ties in to a current rash of dog disappearances and deaths; running into the same girls at various places - young starlets who double as escorts; getting involved in a concurrent story of missing billionaire (stunt man and tech mogul, natch) that is tied together with his missing girl; and somehow getting laid constantly despite his being a paranoid slacker.
Garfield is the main character throughout with familiar faces (Topher Grace, Jimmi Simpson, Patrick Fischler, Luke Baines, Zosia Mamet, Grace Van Patten, Callie Hernandez and David Yow) popping in every now and then. Characters are all over the place - Yow, for example, plays a man known at the Homeless King, while there is also an appearance by the maybe-real-or not Owlgirl, an aged, hermit songwriter who seems to be responsible for just about every hit song of the past fifty years (and, of course, hides messages inside all of them), and a highly conspiratorial zine writer who is convinced an old map hidden on the back of a cereal box holds the key to his entire theory (also, The Legend of Zelda is invoked so... bonus points?).
Just when you think things can't get any more convoluted or weird... Mitchells manages to throw in another twist that leaves you scratching your head and either thinking this man is a genius or simply all kinds of nuts. I, for one, found the movie a bit bewildering - so many threads that go nowhere (barking women, the Dogkiller, an ex-girlfriend/billboard model, a conspiracy theory about Wheel of Fortune) - but also just so different than anything else out there. You've got to appreciate the sheer amount of talent required to balance all of this and still make for a compelling story - and mystery - and that is, mostly at least, resolved. It may not be the resolution you want - and may leave a lot of things open to interpretation - but it gives you something as a payoff.
Mitchell is a director I want to continue to watch. His innovated It Follows is still one of my favorite horror films of the past few years and while Under the Silver Lake is not for everyone, it proves he is not afraid to take chances. Where he goes from here - I honestly can't wait to see.
