A single mother is swept into a dark underworld, while her teenage son discovers a road that leads him to a secret underwater town.
Coasting on charismatic performances and a quality crew, Gosling’s debut proves two things: screenwriting is hard, and stylish and stylised are very different things.
Despite the talents involved, Lost River never gives us a clear idea as to what exactly Gosling might be trying to say about all this post-apocalyptic fear, loathing and ennui.
Ryan Gosling might yet become an interesting director, but his first effort behind the camera is fatuous and shallow.
Ryan Gosling's directorial debut is a wildly self-indulgent affair.
Total bollocks. But also kind of charming.
Lost River boasts a cult cast and looks fantastic but it is also a pretentious burlesque of a film in which you are never entirely sure what Gosling is trying to say.
Verdict: A ghastly mess.
It’s self-indulgent, and one can tell the plot, such as it is, was far from the thrust of Gosling’s ambition, but there’s more than enough to point to a successful secondary career for the reluctant heartthrob once those abs start to sag, and hopefully a bit before then.
Gosling may craft the occasional moment of strange, demented beauty, but his reliance on dream logic and over-use of the sub-Terrence Malick-style imagery that has pervaded American indie cinema in recent years doesn’t convince.
With shades of David Lynch and Night of the Hunter, Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut lacks imagination or identity.
Ryan Gosling: 'If I had to shake it like a showgirl, I was going to do it'
Cameo, Edinburgh from Friday April 10, 2015, until Thursday April 16, 2015. More info: http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/
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