All Style, Little Story: “Lost River” Is The Perfect 21st Century Cult Film
Cult films come in all shapes and sizes.
From The Big Lebowski — supposedly one of the funniest movies ever made — to The Room — a movie so bad it is hilariously bad. As the name suggests, cult films are the type of films that have acquired a cult following. These films usually bomb at the box office when they are initially released, but over the years — thanks to that cult following — the film lives on in pop culture discussions.
The shapes of sizes of these cult films are abundant: “so bad it’s good” films, camp/guilty pleasure films, nostalgia films, midnight films, B films, art house films and animated films. Usually, a specific cult film gets a revival in popularity years after its release date. In this day and age, where filmmakers are more independent than ever, we see films surface with little to no studio backing/box office success and attain cult film status almost instantly.
Ryan Gosling’s Lost River is a prime example of a living, breathing and growing cult film.
In 2013, Gosling — one of Hollywood’s biggest leading men — wrote, directed and produced Lost River. The film is his directorial debut. The film is classified as a “fantasy-ne0-noir” film. It depicts the life of a single mom (played by Christina Hendricks) as she gets swept up in a darker side of life, as her teenage son (played by Iain De Caestecker) discovers a world hidden by the setting’s current landscape.
Lost River premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 2014, where it was met with boos and cheers. When it hit limited release and ultimately video on demand, the film was met with negative comments and reviews. Only two years have gone by since Lost River’s release, and the film has steadily been earning some praise — its cult film status growing.
Is there something to this film that early critics missed out? Does some films take time to appreciate?
In this day and age, we are looking for the hot take. Straight up: we want to know if something is good or bad. Time is precious. If something — like a movie — takes some time to sit through, think about and enjoy, many pass on that opportunity. On an initial viewing, Lost River is a mess. Its a film where the old adage “show don’t tell” really gets abused. There is a lot of show-y scenes that do not make a lot of sense. No one wants to hear a character state the obvious, but scenes that is all show with no real importance to the film is just as bad.
Before delving deeper in the bad stuff, there are some redeeming qualities to the film.
Lost River might be best described as a great “overdirected” movie. Gosling has talent behind the camera. The scenes are photographed beautiful — thanks, in part, to cinematographer Benoît Debie’s beautiful photography. Based on looks, the film is gorgeous. Colors pop. The dark seems deep and foreboding. Your eyeballs are glued to the film. Gosling grabs your attention, visually, and never lets go. With that said, I read a review that said the film’s visuals were the greatest hits of other famous directors. The styles are quite similar, but I would not go as blatant to say that.
Another praise to the film is the music. The soundtrack was composed by Johnny Jewel, and the atmospheric score really blends well with the film. Its haunting, yet beautiful. There is an aura of nostalgia to the music. Like the imagery the music is coupled with, its simplicity is key to music’s success.
However, the film falters to really be considered great. The audience enters a world that is not quite like ours, but similar enough that leaves you questioning if this is really an American city. And questioning things in this movie becomes normal. Character’s decision making is faulty, weird and strange. Most of them — especially “supreme overlord”? Bully (played by Matt Smith) — felt cartoonish and not incredibly realistic. There are two characters that I could get behind, Cat (played by Eva Mendes) and Rat (played by Saoirse Ronann). I enjoyed when Cat and Rat (Huh, that rhymes) were on screen, perhaps because of the acting talent both have. Also, their arcs were something I could follow and root for in the film.
Fans of a more artsy and surreal genre of film will go crazy for Lost River. Some already have. This film is beginning to catch steam in the cult film world. Thanks to sites like Tumblr, gifs and screencaps of the film can be shared easily. With those being shared, Lost River’s repetition of a visual masterpiece can be argued.
However, I would not go that far. I think the critics got it mostly right in their initial reviews. Even after watching a second time, the film has little weight. It is great eye candy, but the movie fails to be significant in any other way. Gosling gives us a film taste of his directing capabilities in Lost River, where flashes of talent can be seen. I just hope next time the story is more fleshed out, and we see a more film masterpiece than a cult film.
