Under the Silver Lake is a 2018 American surrealist neo-noir black comedy thriller film written, produced and directed by David Robert Mitchell.

Set in 2011 Los Angeles, it follows a young man (Andrew Garfield) investigating the sudden disappearance of his neighbor (Riley Keough), only to stumble upon an elusive and dangerous conspiracy.

Under the Silver Lake premiered on May 15, 2018, at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or, before being released nationwide in France on August 8.

In the summer of 2011, Sam is an aimless 33-year-old in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, interested in conspiracy theories and hidden messages in popular culture, and uninterested in paying his overdue rent.

He breaks into the empty apartment, finding a strange symbol on the wall, and flees when a woman, Troy, comes by to pick up a box.

There he is met by the Homeless King, a vagrant wearing a robe and crown, who blindfolds him and takes him to a hidden cave before letting him venture alone into a secret space that resembles a bomb shelter.

Sam has the Balloon Girl and two Shooting Stars (employees of an escort agency) lead him to the Songwriter, a very old man who reveals that he has encoded many songs with secret messages over the decades.

Millicent is fatally shot, dying in a pose eerily similar to one on a vintage Playboy magazine cover that Sam owns.

[7][8][9] In November 2016, Zosia Mamet, Laura-Leigh, Jimmi Simpson, Patrick Fischler, Luke Baines, Callie Hernandez, Riki Lindhome and Don McManus joined the cast.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Under the Silver Lake hits its stride slightly more often than it stumbles, but it's hard not to admire - or be drawn in by - writer-director David Robert Mitchell's ambition.

[23] Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out gave the film a perfect five rating, calling it "Hypnotic, spiraling and deliriously high" and stating "the ambition of Under the Silver Lake is worth cherishing.

"[24] Eric Kohn of IndieWire gave a positive review, calling it "a bizarre and outrageous drama grounded in the consistency of Garfield's astonishment at every turn...

"[25] Owen Gleiberman of Variety gave a positive review, calling it "a down-the-rabbit-hole movie, at once gripping and baffling, fueled by erotic passion and dread but also by the code-fixated opacity of conspiracy theory.

Club gave the film a B rating, stating "Mitchell is taking a big swing with his third feature, trying something not just new but also more unconventional, ambitious, and even potentially off-putting.

"[27] Emily Yoshida of Vulture stated about the film's message: "I kept coming back to the women in this extremely boy-driven movie—Mitchell suspects that they're all on one big conveyor belt to be chewed up and spit out by Hollywood, or if they're lucky, locked away in the dungeons of the rich and powerful.

"[28] Despite praising Garfield's performance and the film's originality, Bilge Ebiri of The Village Voice gave a negative review, stating: "If you're going to make a postmodern neo-noir sex-conspiracy... set in Los Angeles, it helps to have some personality, or at least a sense of style... Mitchell has interesting ideas, and his actors seem to be having fun, but that's not enough when the film itself lacks atmosphere, or tension, or emotional engagement.

[31] While not initially a box-office success with audiences,[3] Under the Silver Lake has garnered a cult following who are convinced that there are hidden meta-clues, codes and ciphers sprinkled throughout the film waiting to be discovered.