Lost River is a Fantasy/Neo-Noir…Thing written and directed by Ryan Gosling and starring Christina Hendricks, Iain De Caestecker, Matt Smith, Saoirse Ronan, Eva Mendes and Ben Mendelsohn. The “plot” could reasonably be summed up as follows: In an initial setup resembling a Neo-Dickensian fairy tale, Billy (Hendricks) struggles to provide for her sons in downtrodden Detroit. Her son Bones (Caestecker) spends his days collecting scrap copper while trying to avoid Bully (Smith) who controls the area. Billy eventually works for a murder-themed burlesque house while Bones finds out about Lost River, a city that was flooded when a reservoir was built. Bones is told by his neighbor Rat (Ronan) that if he breaks off a piece of land and brings it to the surface, the “curse” cast over the land will end.
The film premiered at Cannes in 2014 to almost universally negative reviews, to the point where rumors spread that the film’s distributor Warner Bros. was selling the film to another company. Eventually, the film was released via a limited release/VOD plan. note
Tropes:
- Aerith and Bob: There are characters named Bones, Rat, Bully and Face contrasted with characters named Billy, Cat and Dave.
- Asshole Victim: Bully, Face and Dave.
- Attempted Rape: It’s implied through Dave’s bizarre dance routine in the club’s basement that he intends to have his way with Billy. He gets stabbed in the ear for his trouble.
- Ax-Crazy: For Bully, it could be best described as “Scissor Crazy”.
- Bald of Evil: Or “Shaved Head of Evil” for Bully.
- Big Bad: Bully.
- Chekhov's Gun: Billy shows the taxi driver her switchblade when he expresses concern for her safety. Near the end of the film, she uses it to fend off Dave.
- Crapsack World: The Detroit of Lost River isn’t a particularly happy place to be.
- Deliberately Monochrome: The club basement, which is all purple lighting.
- Dying Town: The titular Lost River.
- Detroit: Both where it takes place and where it was shot. Yes, it is as run-down as it looks.
- The Dragon: Face.
- Ear Ache: Billy stabs Dave in his good ear.
- Empty Shell: Rat’s Grandmother, who does nothing but watch footage from her wedding with her dead husband.
- Expy: Bully is a leather-jacketed, psychotic, drugged-out rapist thug full of ranting monologues who is the head bad guy in charge of a decaying, nondescript area and vaguely resembles some kind of supernatural fairy tale villain. Gosling's directorial influences should be obvious.
- Facial Horror: Bully cuts off Face’s lips, and the latter walks around with their mutilated remains.
- Billy's act at the nightclub involves her taking a scalpel to her face.
- Le Film Artistique
- Gainax Ending: Rat’s house burns down with her grandmother inside, so her, Bones, Billy and their brother leave.
- Improbable Weapon User: Bones eventually stops Bully through a dinosaur head.
- Improbable Infant Survival: Thankfully played straight.
- Kick the Dog: Bully killing Rat's pet rat.
- Mind Screw: Many note that it’s akin to a fairy tale.
- Rasputinian Death: Bully crashes his car into the burning wreck of Bones's car, flies through the windshield and gets trapped with his head underwater with his legs on fire.
- Rule of Symbolism: The letter "D" (for "Debt") is painted on the foreclosed house in bright red at the beginning of the film, in a contemporary allusion to Nathaniel Hawthorne's "A".
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: At the end, Bones, his brother, Billy and Rat decide to leave Detroit.
- Shear Menace: Bully's preferred instrument of violence is a pair of scissors. He's fond of cutting peoples' lips off with them.
- The Stinger: A brief scene after the credits shows the street lamps leading into the reservoir turning off one by one.
- Trippy Finale Syndrome
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Bully, who simply wears a coat over his chest.
