El Misterio de Silver Lake

Quite a different experience, which is hard to say about films in recent years. Takes a while to get going but worth the wait

My wife and I watched this at home on DVD from our public library. The DVD box doesn't give away much, "A delirious fever dream about one man's search for the truth behind mysterious crimes, murders, and disappearances in his East L.A. neighborhood."

The movie is a homage to 1950s film noir, and even the music was composed to evoke that feeling. Andrew Garfield is Sam, about to get evicted from his apartment for lack of payment, and about to have his car repossessed. But he doesn't seem to be in any rush to get work. He is only interested in finding out why a pretty neighbor disappeared suddenly.

Silver Lake is a community outside L.A., just east of Hollywood. There is also a reservoir there, which plays a role in the mystery. Frankly when it was over neither my wife nor I could explain a story in what we saw, but the style is so captivating that we kept watching.

I enjoyed it, my wife less so. It is not the type of movie everyone will enjoy.

There is much here to enjoy in this likeable neo-noirish/dreamlike offering from David Robert Mitchell. It looks good throughout, has plenty of surprises, some surreal touches and generally a good feeling. At some point after halfway in begins to dawn on the viewer that it is going to be some achievement to resolve all the various and varied elements that have unfolded. Unfortunately (or just maybe fortunately) this does not seem the intention of Mitchell and even more bizarre and unresolved issues are brought up in the file stages. It is perhaps advisable then to not go into this expecting the 'detective' to solve the mystery of the missing girl or the dead dogs or the fantastic caves or the secret code, but to just enjoy the moments.

This movie is in a few words: strange, intriguing, dull, intimate, and dare I say addictive. The plot is seems pretty simple enough yet as you watch you can get lost at the movies direction- it's at times realistic and other times feels like the next scene will have something outer worldly happen. Regardless the protagonist (Andrew Garfield) whose almost a viewer himself just along for the ride except in real time is one of the movies real gems. It is definitely not for everyone rather it's not for most I believe , as some may really find it boring and/or stupid however if you're looking for something different and that will get your conspiracy senses tingling definitely one to watch.

Kinda makes me sad that this film could've been phenomenal if it was more considerate to the casual viewer. Bittersweet because it's great that filmmakers are able to make movies with little to no creative interference, but sometimes it's for the best. I'll start with what I like: this film has style for days. The lighting, production design, stilted characters were all mesmerizing. What I didn't: it felt meandering, bloated, and ultimately pointless. I know there's the "that's the point" argument to counter my "it was pointless" point, but when does "that's the point" become a cop out? I do think this film will garner an audience, but if it were just a bit more orthodox, it would've found that audience instantly.