Fantastic Fest review: Under the Silver Lake is an absurd, exhilarating dive into the dark heart of Hollywood

From all accounts, director David Robert Mitchell’s Under the Silver Lake has had a tumultuous journey to the screen. The follow up to Mitchell’s eerie horror hit It Follows has had its release date pushed back six months, allegedly in order to trim down the film’s 139 running time after the lukewarm reception it received at Cannes earlier this year.

During the film’s screening at Fantastic Fest, Mitchell seemed to be trying to manage expectations before the film even began, suggesting that the audience not try to figure out every aspect of the plot on first viewing, but to let the film “wash over you.” While that may sound like the height of auteur pretentiousness, it’s actually the right approach to take to Mitchell’s fever dream of a film, an absurd neo-noir conspiracy thriller about the pitfalls of Hollywood and the damning effects of pop culture.

Andrew Garfield stars as Sam, a scruffy Hitchcock superfan who spends his time searching for hidden messages in vintage Vanna White TV appearances. He quickly encounters a mysterious blonde woman (Riley Keough) living next door, who then disappears from their apartment complex in the middle of the night. Drawn to this woman he barely knows, Sam sets out on a journey to track her down, which leads him down a bewildering path into the seedy underbelly of LA, complete with movie star call girls, a conspiracy theorist zine maker, a dog killer, a mysterious mythological creature, and a look behind the forces that control all pop culture as we know it.

Under the Silver Lake is filled with references to other classic Hollywood films, from the posters in Sam’s apartment to the classic films in the background of nearly every indoor scene. Every character here is a noir staple, and the nods to classic Hollywood films will likely thrill diehard fans aiming to spot as many references as they can.

While on the surface that sounds a filmmaker merely planting references as a wink to a knowing audience, Under the Silver Lake is actually about how Hollywood films and the surrounding culture continue to impact the lives of so many people, filling our minds with subliminal messages that influence the ways we act and even how we see ourselves. This culminates in the greatest moment of the film, a delirious musical scene when an aging songwriter breaks down decades of popular music that he has allegedly written to control the masses, ranging from The Beatles through to Nirvana and The Backstreet Boys.

Much like David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive (Patrick Fischler plays a pivotal role in both which can’t be a coincidence), Under the Silver Lake defies conventional forms of narrative, offering up a smorgasbord of moods and ideas before finally wrapping up with some semblance of closure. It’s a wild, often absurd trip into the heart of the darkest nature of Hollywood and the powers that create and disseminate the entertainment that we fill our days with. The wild tonal shifts and oblique storytelling won’t be for everyone, but its puzzle-box construction and tinfoil hat pronouncements assure it a spot in the cult movie cannon.

Under the Silver Lake is in theatres December 8, 2018.