Under the Silver Lake

David Robert Mitchell wrote and directed this, set in the summer of 2011. Sam is 33 and behind on his rent; eviction runs under the whole story and lands at the end, when his landlord and a sheriff’s deputy find the hobo sign for stay quiet painted on his wall. It played in competition for the Palme d’Or at Cannes. The American release was pushed twice, from June 2018 to December 2018 and then April 2019, reaching video on demand three days after cinemas. France had released it nationwide in August 2018, eight months earlier. Disasterpeace scored it again, continuing with Mitchell after It Follows. Shooting stayed inside Los Angeles, taking in the Silver Lake Reservoir and Griffith Observatory. The prizes are small but real: the Denis de Rougemont Youth Award at Neuchâtel’s International Fantastic Film Festival, plus a special mention of the José Luis Guarner critics’ award at Sitges. A following grew up afterwards hunting ciphers, from the dog killer’s identity to geocoding to Morse read from the firework sounds. Emily Yoshida of Vulture wrote that the women here are all on a conveyor belt to be chewed up and spat out by Hollywood. A good fit if you want a story where the clue hunt is the subject. Not for anyone waiting on a solution that ties up.