Cannes 2014 Review: ‘Lost River’

“It’s like Marmite” replied a British actress, and fellow screening attendee, to my question of whether or not her fellow Brits would like Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut Lost River. I couldn’t agree more, it really is a love or loathe experience. In my case, it’s love.

The film presents us with a single-parent family living in the dying town of Lost River. We meet Billy, a mother so desperate to keep her family together, she’ll take a job in a macabre underworld club. Her oldest, Bones, helps keep the family in coin by collecting scrap from derelict buildings, while finding solace in the arms of a neighbourhood girl called Rat.

But the family’s tenuous existence completely unravels when Billy’s new boss develops an unhealthy fascination with her, and Bones crosses the path of sadistic gang leader Bully, who has delusions of being king of this abandoned domain.

Ryan Gosling, known best as an A-List actor and heartthrob, could have played it safe with a nice rom-com or family drama as his first director’s assignment. But Gosling embraces his dark and twisted side, unleashing a nightmarish adult fantasy. And I’m so glad he did, even if the result is far from perfect.

The influences of Gosling’s mentor Nicolas Winding Refn’s, and other macabre specialists like David Lynch, are everywhere. And the story is a bit of a unholy mess, much like the situation the family find themselves in. But for me, this doesn’t detract from the experience and the resulting film is one stunning-looking, surreal trip.

Christina Hendricks (Billy), Iain De Caestecker (Bones), Saoirse Ronan (Rat) are great in their roles but it’s an almost unrecognisable Matt Smith (as the unhinged Bully) and the always-brilliant Ben Mendelsohn (Billy’s perverted boss Dave) who steal the show – this is a nightmare after all!

I respect a filmmaker who challenges an audience – even if I don’t like the result. Fortunately I liked Marmite and I really like Lost River, flaws and all. I might be in the minority, given other less glowing reviews, but I reckon you should give it a go and decide for yourself.

8.5/10

.