Official Synopsis
“Lost River” is a dark fairy tale about love, family and the fight for survival in the face of danger. In the virtually abandoned city of Lost River, Billy (Christina Hendricks), a single mother of two, is led into a macabre underworld in her quest to save her childhood home and hold her family together. Her teenage son Bones (Iain De Casestecker) discovers a mystery about the origins of Lost River that triggers his curiosity and sets in motion an unexpected journey that will test his limits and the limits of those he loves.
Let me start this review by saying that Lost River was a gorgeous film. Gosling and cinematographer Benoît Debie really added some life, and quite a bit of visual evil to the film. The use of neon colors, blurred imagery and wonderful wideshots helped to convey the story when Gosling’s own screenplay failed to push the narrative. Lost River is quite the visual candy that budding filmmakers would and should enjoy.
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Having said that, the movie was incredibly difficult to follow. A good portion of the first act is spent setting up the town of Lost River and all the woe that comes with it. From the get-go, you’re introduced to a struggling mom, Billy (Christina Hendricks), who loves her sons above all else. She is doing her best to keep her young son, Franky (Landyn Stewart), and older son, Bones (Iain De Casestecker), from being dragged down by the weird underworld of the town. Bones is being pursued by a seriously messed up individual named Bully (Matt Smith), who is mad at Bones for reacquiring material he stole from Bones. On the flipside to that coin, Billy is trying not to lose the house they reside in, which results in a grotesque job she is given by an odd loan officer named Dave (Ben Mendelsohn).
All of this established in the first act. That is a hefty amount of material to digest in a short amount of time.
As first acts go, it might have an overload of characters to think about, but it does set up an interesting world that isn’t easily explained through dialogue. One can assume that this might be some post-apocalyptic world that was cast down after something went terribly wrong. I assumed this for three-fourths of the movie. Regardless of what’s to come in acts two and three, the world will draw you in and engage your senses during act one. Even when things get terribly messed up with the characters that reside in it.
Act two is a bit more confusing, though.
We see the full extent of Billy’s situation. She has become the figurative slave to Dave’s mutilation sideshows. She has to get on stage and hurt herself (not really, but it’s still gross) and then go downstairs to earn money in some sort of shell in which she stands in a plastic see-through casting and people can literally do anything they want to her. It’s pretty sick.
On the Bones side of the equation, act two lays it on thick with Bones/Bully issues. Bully is on the heals of Bones and will do anything to torture the poor guy, including removing his own henchmen’s lips. The feud (or chase) spills over to a new character that is introduced in act two named Rat (Saoirse Ronan), when Bully hurts her in a torturous and sick way. Side note, I must give Matt Smith some props for playing one of the antagonist in the film. The guy is incredibly creepy and scary in evil roles. He goes against everything the ‘good doctor’ would do to people. It’s a fitting role for an up and comer in American cinema, who wants to break away from a wacky/zany typecasting. Can’t wait to see him in the Terminator movie.
Anyway, back to Lost River.
Act two brings more confusion than it does concrete explanation about what the hell happened in this seemingly abandoned town. It keeps the answers of how the protagonists break free of its confines and focuses more on their dire situations. It’s certainly a downer of an act. With that said, the character of Rat offers up some insight on how the town can be freed of its ‘curse’. Does that mean everyone can escape the town? Apparently, but only act three can tell. Also, a curse? Seriously? Where in the heck did that come from? Oh, well.
The third act spirals towards a conclusion (sorry, not going to spoil it) that will make you wonder, ‘What the hell?’— probably not in a good way. It was clear by act two that substance was not as important as style in Lost River. I’m sure there is an underlying message here that Gosling isn’t ready to unveil, even at the end, and it isn’t apparent when the film ends what that message might be. I am sure of one thing, though, that most critics were probably frustrated by the lack of obvious conclusion. I felt a bit cheated, but willing to accept this movie was more than what it seemed on the surface, just like the town of Lost River. Having said that, I wanted answers that my feeble mind apparently couldn’t find. Maybe a second or third go around will help with this search, but for now I’m content on enjoying the visuals, fine acting and gorgeous wideshots.
On the Blu-ray side of things, Lost River is gorgeously shot, which translates well when it comes to the HD transfer. The filter placed on most of the shots to blur out lighting or to add a dark border around the film does take away from the transfer a bit, but underneath it all it’s yet another fine example of great WB Blu-ray work.
Sadly, no features.