Twisted Thrills: “Under the Silver Lake” Now Streaming Free!
Love a good conspiracy thriller that keeps you guessing? Then get ready to dive headfirst into “Under the Silver Lake,” a film that’s both a loving homage and a sharp satire of the genre. For years, we’re treated to gritty tales like “Three Days of the Condor” (1975) and “Soylent Green” (1973), while contemporary films like “Watcher” (2022) and “Coherence” (2013) offer fresh perspectives. But sometimes, a film dares to poke fun at its own tropes, and “Under the Silver Lake” is one of the best examples – now available for free on Tubi!
A Conspiracy with a Twist
Andrew Garfield delivers a captivating performance as Sam, a directionless 30-something who stumbles into a bizarre conspiracy in Los Angeles. Despite facing eviction, Sam becomes obsessed with deciphering cryptic clues, unlikely treasure maps, and seemingly random coincidences – all fueled by his conspiracy-addled mind.
After a brief flirtation with his neighbor Sarah (Riley Keough), who mysteriously disappears alongside billionaire Jefferson Sevence (Chris Gann), Sam embarks on a relentless quest to uncover the truth. His journey leads him through Hollywood’s underbelly, convinced that interconnected subliminal messages are hidden in plain sight. As he races from one improbable location to the next, we’re left wondering if his hyperfixations have any basis in reality or if they’re simply the product of a disillusioned mind.
Mitchell’s neo-noir satire shares thematic DNA with Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s “Something in the Dirt” (2022), which blends cosmic horror with the claustrophobic journey of two men who fall down the conspiracy rabbit hole. This Benson and Moorhead joint is darkly humorous and deeply emotional at once, mapping the madness of connecting exceedingly random dots for the sake of solving a heady mystery. While also satirical, “Something in the Dirt” offers grounded commentary on shared delusion, which is often caused by extreme isolation or personal trauma.
By contrast, “Under the Silver Lake” is more incoherent and absurdist, playfully mimicking the oddball aspects of David Lynch’s “Lost Highway” (1997) or “Mulholland Drive” (2001) to further its down-the-rabbit-hole premise. Whenever Sam engages in pretentious conversation with the zine author Comic Fan (Patrick Fischler) or decodes maps on cereal boxes to find the next big clue, the film makes unsubtle winks at Sam’s ridiculous shenanigans and the vapid compulsions that fuel him. David Lynch’s films are known for their surreal and dreamlike qualities.
Most criticisms aimed at “Under the Silver Lake” have to do with Sam’s long, meaningless journey, which might feel a tad indulgent at times. While there’s a conversation to be had about a film as obtuse and meandering as the subject it is satirizing, Mitchell’s clever use of pop culture references to create a faux-conspiracy lends the film its witty, subversive quality. We see Sam scour through old “Playboy” issues and “Nintendo Power” magazines to solve mathematical equations and pinpoint exact coordinates, all of which fit to form an incoherent pattern only he can understand. Although the viewer sees his search as a futile one, every tongue-in-cheek reference makes sense within the context of Sam’s increasingly paranoid view of the world.
Beneath Sam’s attempts to escape his circumstances lies an existential crisis. He’s trying to force meaning onto a mystery when there is none as a way to make sense of his own life. Mitchell rightfully lampoons the urge to ignore reality in favor of ludicrous conspiracies, but Sam’s journey also ends with the realization that the absence of straightforward answers is the point. There is no grand mystery to solve here, no logical end to a conspiracy story that is supposed to be unsatisfying.
The aimless nature of “Under the Silver Lake” isn’t novel — Mitchell borrows from the “wandering protagonist” trope of jaded or burnt-out private detectives, like the ones in “The Long Goodbye” (1973) or “Inherent Vice” (2014). Instead of treating the central mystery as a convoluted puzzle that should be taken at face value, “Under the Silver Lake” revamps these familiar tropes into a story that is uniquely suited to our hyper-capitalist world. Neo-noir films often feature morally ambiguous characters and a cynical worldview.
Sam might be hell-bent on getting difficult answers in “Under the Silver Lake,” but he remains oblivious to his glaring flaws and ingrained misogyny. Mitchell uses this hypocrisy to weave in some compelling commentary about out-of-touch nihilism without turning Sam into a caricature. After all, it’s tempting (and incredibly human) for someone like Sam to lose himself in a world of grandiose make-believe instead of facing a sad, painful reality of his own making.
Nearly a decade later, “Under the Silver Lake” feels even more relevant than it did in 2018. In an era where every pop-culture obsessive is racing to decode hidden clues, connect impossible dots, and turn every coincidence into evidence, Mitchell’s film feels less like a tangled mystery and more like a somber warning. Whether you see it as a brilliant satire or an indulgent mess, “Under the Silver Lake” is a movie that’s difficult to stop thinking about – and that’s more than most conspiracy thrillers can claim. That is also why it’s worth watching on Tubi before it disappears.
“Under the Silver Lake” is currently streaming on Tubi.
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