Lost River

A desolate town, struck by economic disaster, is being run by a self-proclaimed gangster leader. Welcome to “Lost River” (directed by Ryan Gosling). Billy (Christina Hendricks), is a single mother with a teenage son Bones (Iain De Caestecker—Fitz of “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” (TV series), and a young infant, Franky. With no man in sight, and a house soon to be repossessed and demolished, she must find the money to pay her mortgage.

Bones has a dream to leave Lost River in a car he has put together himself. He ransacks empty buildings in the area to find scrap metal that he sells or swaps for car parts. He faces opposition from the local gang leader, Bully (Matt Smith of the “Doctor Who” 2010-2014 TV series). He runs the town with an iron fist and has a sadistic habit of mutilating those that displease him. Angered that Bones is stealing what he sees as his own, Bully targets Bones as a threat. But with time running out on the house, Bones defies Bully’s threat to try to gather enough material to sell for the house payment.

Billy, meanwhile, is offered a job by her bank manager Dave (Ben Mendelsohn) who runs a fetish club. She takes it, unaware of exactly what she will have to do. Bones teams up with his neighbor Rat (Saoirse Ronan), to uncover a hidden section of the town that had been flooded, in the hope they can find enough raw materials to raise the money for Billy, or get the car parts to leave the town.

“Lost River” is the directorial debut of famous actor Ryan Gosling. Over the last five years or so, his roles have become increasingly less mainstream. His collaborations with directors Nicolas Winding Refn and Derek Cianfrance show through strongly with “Lost River.” It’s very similar to many David Lynch directed films (“Mulholland Drive”) in that it’s very picturesque, artistically driven, with strong nuances of fantasy. To put it simply, it’s weird. Although beautifully shot, with a lot of thought put into every frame, if you lose focus on that, you lose focus period, as the story is difficult to follow, and difficult to relate to.

The characters are hard to connect with, as the audience is given very little background. The entire town has almost ground to a halt. The only signs of heavy life are at the fetish club, which involves numerous performers putting on extreme illusions to entertain. Within this environment, we meet people who seem interested in helping Billy, but really have just their own agenda, and their own survival to consider.

The acting is very good. The eccentric personalities fit with the bizarre location, and I found Matt Smith’s role very interesting. But in honesty, there isn’t much depth to any of the characters.

Content concerns

The violence is extreme. Excessively. Bully mutilates his sidekick by slicing his lips off with scissors. He beheads a pet rat with the same tool, and frequently inserts intimidation into his interactions. He is a sadistic, control freak who enjoys torture and killing. Billy performs a show at the club where she simulates self-mutilation with imagery that portrays her peeling off part of her face. Another performer is “sliced and cut” as her blood sprays all over the audience. We also see Billy’s infant child backstage experiencing this. A man is stabbed to death in the ear. A woman is burned alive in her house.

There are sexual advances by a character on Billy, leading to a referenced rape. There is frequent heavy language, particularly f**ks and motherf****r. There is no sex/nudity, but Billy is encased in a structure where she is completely immobile, prone to the advances of any paying customers. Dave dances seductively in a very strange scene.

As far as comparing this movie to a life of love and happiness in Jesus, you couldn’t be in more opposing worlds. There is no hope and no life in Lost River. Everyone is depressed, everyone wants to get out. The only thing holding people there is memories—old, bad memories that remain, despite the town having changed so much under the dictatorship of Bully. People subject themselves to the day-to-day of submitting to Bully’s reign, allowing him control of everything, from businesses to dilapidated old buildings. It’s life at its lowest, where death seems the only better option.

I cannot rate this movie as a success, despite my admiration for Ryan Gosling and part of what he attempted to do. He is a big advocate of low budget, independent movies, but this one followed the paths of his favorite directors, but without the depth. The story had so little to it, it was almost unrelatable. Gosling, himself, said it’s meant to be a fairytale fantasy that happens like a dream in the middle of the night. I agree with that. It feels like a dream—90 minutes of airy-fairy nothingness. If you are a moviemaker, a cinematographer, or an acting student, you may want to watch this. Otherwise, don’t bother.

Violence: Extreme / Profanity: Heavy / Sex/Nudity: Moderate

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.

• Positive
• Negative
• Critics