Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Labyrinthine
- Violence
- Moderate
- surreal
- brooding
- paranoid
- late night viewing
- conspiracy movie marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly admired the film's ambition, visual style, soundtrack, and Andrew Garfield's performance while finding its sprawling conspiracy mystery uneven and opaque.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Sam decodes hidden messages and cultural clues while pursuing Sarah's disappearance across Los Angeles.
Hollywood Hills, mansions, underground spaces, and city landmarks become interconnected sites of suspicion.
Sam's investigation begins through watching and pursuing women, while the film repeatedly questions his fantasies about access and control.
The film incorporates animation, dream sequences, pop symbolism, and lush stylized compositions into its neo-noir world.
Films like Under the Silver Lake, and why
Mulholland Drive
shared surreal neo-noir atmosphere, Los Angeles setting, erotic mystery, and ambiguous conspiracy logic
Inherent Vice
shared dreamlike mystery structure, Hollywood symbolism, paranoid investigation, and unstable reality
The Parallax View
shared paranoid conspiracy thriller framework, obsessive clue-decoding, and urban alienation
The Big Lebowski
shared surreal urban quest, eccentric protagonist, dark comedy, and cryptic pop-cultural clues
Movie Details
- Director
- David Robert Mitchell
- Release Date
- 2018-08-08
- Runtime
- 139 min
- Rating
- 6.3 / 10 (1686)
Cast
- Andrew Garfield
- Riley Keough
- Topher Grace
- Callie Hernandez
- Don McManus
- Jeremy Bobb
- Riki Lindhome
- Patrick Fischler
- Zosia Mamet
- Jimmi Simpson
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Under the Silver Lake about?
- A restless Los Angeles slacker follows a vanished woman into a labyrinth of coded songs, secret societies, and paranoid Hollywood fantasies.
- What is Under the Silver Lake like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Under the Silver Lake as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as labyrinthine.
- Is Under the Silver Lake violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Under the Silver Lake as moderate.
- What did critics think of Under the Silver Lake?
- Critics broadly admired the film's ambition, visual style, soundtrack, and Andrew Garfield's performance while finding its sprawling conspiracy mystery uneven and opaque.
- Which films are like Under the Silver Lake?
- Films with a similar feel include Mulholland Drive, Inherent Vice, The Parallax View, and The Big Lebowski.
- How long is Under the Silver Lake?
- Under the Silver Lake runs 139 minutes.
- Where can I watch Under the Silver Lake?
- In United States, Under the Silver Lake is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube.
