New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu


?>

 

REVIEW: "Under The Silver Lake"


By Eric Hillis, TheMovieWaffler.com

originally published: 04/26/2019


Writer/director David Robert Mitchell made his feature debut back in 2010 with the coming of age drama The Myth of the American Sleepover, but he really announced himself with his followup, 2014’s It Follows, arguably the best horror movie of the past decade. With that film, Mitchell displayed an innate understanding of what makes a horror movie tick, and most of us thought he would stay in the genre, with many putting his name forward as a potential director for the rebooted Halloween franchise. It’s a surprise then that Mitchell has confounded expectations with Under the Silver Lake, a rambling gonzo adventure that largely defies categorization. It may be his third feature, but it plays very much like a ‘difficult second album’, in this case a four-sided prog rock concept album complete with gate-fold sleeve.

Andrew Garfield is Sam, an entitled thirty-something twerp who lives in a relatively plush Los Angeles apartment (for which he hasn’t bothered to pay rent in quite some time), seems to get by without working and has an adorable manic pixie dream girl friend with benefits (Riki Lindholme) who regularly calls over for some afternoon delight. One day he spots his pretty neighbor Sarah (Riley Keough) sunbathing and is immediately smitten. He introduces himself to Sarah and the two spend a pleasant evening watching How to Marry a Millionaire together.

The next day, Sam is shocked to discover Sarah’s apartment has been emptied and she’s left with no forwarding address. When he sees a mysterious young woman (Zosia Mamet) taking a box from Sarah’s vacated home, Sam follows her, and so begins his journey into a bizarre Los Angeles underworld as he searches for his missing neighbor.

Within his film’s first few minutes, Mitchell references and rips off such disparate movies as Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye (Sam has a female neighbor who likes to prance around on her balcony sans clothing), Hitchcock’s Vertigo and De Palma’s Body Double. It’s a movie so packed with pop culture references and nods to cinema history that Mitchell makes Quentin Tarantino look Amish by comparison.

What distinguishes Mitchell from Tarantino is his self-awareness in this regard, and his movie has much to say about the very modern phenomenon of mass produced pop culture being sold in a manner that makes the consumer feel like they’re participating in a revolution simply by handing over their dollars to consume it (look at how Disney monetizes outrage in its marketing of films like Black Panther and Captain Marvel). While uncovering a They Live-esque conspiracy run by California’s elites, Sam comes across The Songwriter (Jeremy Bobb), an ancient man who claims to have written every hit pop song since the dawn of recorded music. Sam is shocked to learn that Nirvana’s ‘Come as You Are’ was knocked off by this man in an afternoon, composed on his piano in the living room of his sprawling Hollywood mansion rather than by Kurt Cobain on his guitar in a Seattle garage. Sam reacts with shocking violence.




New Jersey Stage provides affordable advertising for the arts, click here for info



Under the Silver Lake is brutally honest about the toxicity of fanboys, but it’s also a film itself packed with the cultural detritus of geekdom. Sam’s apartment is adorned with framed posters for ‘50s b-movies, and like the good little hipster he is, he doesn’t play his video games on a Playstation Four, but on a ‘90s Nintendo system. Personally, I’m a lover of ‘50s b-movies and while I have no interest in video games, if forced, I would rather play Super Mario Kart than the lifelike games of today’s systems. I know watching Creature from the Black Lagoon isn’t an act of rebellion, but sue me for finding it a fun way to kill 90 minutes. Mitchell draws on cinephiles’ love of our favorite art form while making us feel shitty about ourselves.  Under The Silver Lake is like Ready Player One, had it been made by Michael Haneke.

In critiquing fanboys and male entitlement, Mitchell forces us to spend two hours and 20 minutes in the presence of one of the most unlikeable protagonists of recent years. I get that his film is essentially Black Orpheus by way of The Searchers, a story of an entitled male who descends into an underworld to rescue a girl who probably doesn’t want to be rescued, but Garfield is no John Wayne. When Wayne’s racist anti-hero Ethan Edwards tells us how much he hates Native Americans, we lean forward, drawn in by the sheer power of Wayne’s clenched fist rage, wondering what prompted this hatred that has destroyed his humanity. When Garfield’s Sam tells us how much he hates the homeless, we simply think “What a dick!” and move on to the next bizarro sequence. It’s also a little telling that Mitchell spends so much time portraying men as a horrible bunch of bastards that he neglects to create and female characters that are more than one-dimensional.

Under the Silver Lake annoyed the hell out of me, but I’d be lying if I said I was ever disengaged. Mitchell’s filmmaking is at times exquisite, and his movie contains images that will stick with me when far better 2019 movies will have faded into obscurity. The score by Disasterpeace is beautifully dark and lush, evoking Blue Velvet era David Lynch, as does Mike Gioulakis’s cinematography, which makes innocuous suburban streets seem sinister, and Mitchell’s eerie habit of dissolving out of a scene a few seconds before the point other filmmakers would cut it. On the other hand, I only laughed once (Sam physically beating the lard out of a pair of bratty kids), so comedy clearly isn’t Mitchell’s strong point.

I have a feeling I may return to Under the Silver Lake in a decade or so and smack myself for not recognizing its true genius, but today, in 2019, it’s merely a commendable failure, probably the best bad movie you’ll see all year. I can’t wait to see what Mitchell does next.

Under the Silver Lake - 3 stars out of 5

 

Directed by: David Robert Mitchell; Starring: Andrew Garfield, Riley Keough, Topher Grace, Riki Lindhome, Callie Hernandez, Zosia Mamet, Grace Van Patten



Eric Hillis is a film critic living in Sligo, Ireland who runs the website TheMovieWaffler.com



New Jersey Stage provides affordable advertising for the arts, click here for info


FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | FILM | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


How

How to Train Your Dragon in Concert

Friday, July 11, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC)
100 South Street, Morristown, NJ 07960
category: film


 

How

How to Train Your Dragon in Concert

Saturday, July 12, 2025 @ 2:00pm
State Theatre New Jersey
15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: film


 

FREE

FREE SUMMER MOVIE: Moana 2

Tuesday, July 15, 2025 @ 7:00pm
State Theatre New Jersey
15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: film


 

FREE

FREE SUMMER MOVIE: Moana 2

Tuesday, July 15, 2025 @ 10:30am
State Theatre New Jersey
15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: film


 

FREE

FREE SUMMER MOVIE: The Wild Robot

Tuesday, July 22, 2025 @ 7:00pm
State Theatre New Jersey
15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: film


 



Advertise with NJ Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info





 

EVENT PREVIEWS

The

The ShowRoom presents: UNSTREAMABLE CINEMA – Four Daring Films You Won't Find Online

(ASBURY PARK, NJ) -- This summer, The ShowRoom proudly launches UNSTREAMABLE CINEMA—a provocative new series showcasing four bold and controversial films that are currently unavailable on any streaming platform. These are rare, one-night-only opportunities to see these uncompromising works on the big screen, where they belong.



Fall

Fall 2025 New Jersey Film Festival Preview

(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- The New Jersey Film Festival returns to Rutgers University September 5 through October 10, 2025. As it has done the last few years, the festival will include select in-person screenings with all films available via video on-demand (VOD) as well. There are also a few screenings available only via VOD. Twenty films will have their New Jersey or Area Premiere (Middlesex County).



The

The Levoy Theatre hosts the CUT International Short Film Festival

(MILLVILLE, NJ) -- The Levoy Theatre hosts the CUT International Short Film Festival September 19-20, 2025. The festival's motto is 'Short Films for Quick Minds'. Its aim is to become the premier festival in New Jersey for short form films.



Count

Count Basie Center for the Arts presents An Evening With Francis Ford Coppola and screening of "Megalopolis"

(RED BANK, NJ) -- Legendary director, Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders) is bringing his monumental 2024 film, Megalopolis, to select cities across the country. The tour kicks off at the Count Basie Center for the Arts on Sunday, July 20, 2025 at 7:00pm.



The

The Williams Center to Screen "Wayward Kin" by David Joseph Volino

(RUTHERFORD, NJ) -- After a four-year-long production process, filmmaker and New Jersey native, David Joseph Volino, is sharing the full-length feature, Wayward Kin, with local audiences. See the film for one night only at The Williams Center in Rutherford on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. The screening begins at 7:00pm with the cast and crew in attendance.