Under the Silver Lake (2018)

The latest milestone in the genre of film I'd like to call "stonoir," Under the Silver Lake (2018) takes nods from other films in this genre, such as The Big Lebowski (1998) and Inherent Vice (2014) but still manages to create something creative and unique.

The story is basic at first glance. Guy meets girl. They hit it off. She wants to see him again the next day. Guy visits girl, girl has disappeared. Noir happens. What Under the Silver Lake does, however, is not only slowly unravel the mystery of the disappearing girl, but the mystery of Los Angeles, too. The plot takes these strange, absurd turns that act as not only moments of discovery, but provide moments of existentialism and commentary on today's obsession with media analysis.

The obsession with the mythos of Los Angeles is incorporated into every aspect of the film. Our protagonist, the typical broke LA hipster, has seen too many movies and is starting to question the validity of messages in media. He's taking notes on the the host's head movements on the "Price Is Right." He's listening to underground bands, a copy of "Code Breakers" in hand, looking for a message. He carries around a book of "Hobo Codes" meant to translate graffiti symbols found around Los Angeles. This obsession with finding meaning creates a protagonist that feels right at home in a story like this, while also reflecting the our society's tendency to over analyze every piece of media in the digital age. The film's ability to walk the line between absurdist stoner noir and poignant commentary is one of its strengths, and is a film that just gets better the more you look into it.

Under the Silver Lake is a tough nut to crack, and I am sure most people will be turned off by its complicated plot, unconventional structure, and frequent dips into the absurd. But similar to films such as Mulholland Drive and Inherent Vice, it's a film that deserves to be rewatched, and thought about. It's a film that wraps up relatively nicely, but the movie doesn't truly start until it's over, and you're left wondering what it all meant. And aren't those the best kind of movies?