Movie review
August 8, 2018 · 139 min · R
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Under the Silver Lake is a 2018 surrealist neo-noir black comedy thriller written, directed, and co-produced by David Robert Mitchell. It follows aimless 33-year-old Sam (Andrew Garfield) in 2011 Los Angeles as he spies on neighbors, meets mysterious Sarah (Riley Keough), and launches a paranoid quest after her sudden disappearance, uncovering pop culture codes, a zine conspiracy, an assassin called the Owl's Kiss, a dog killer, and a secret cult of wealthy men who seal young women with them in hidden tombs to "ascend." The narrative stays locked in Sam's voyeuristic, conspiracy-obsessed perspective and explores alienation, meaninglessness, and the emptiness behind LA/Hollywood surfaces. No identity-driven themes, activist messaging, representation emphasis, or woke political elements appear in the story, characters, dialogue, or marketing.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Under the Silver Lake.
Woke representation / casting
Predominantly white cast aligns with the 2011 Silver Lake setting and the white male protagonist's narrow, voyeuristic viewpoint; supporting diversity is minor and unemphasized with no audience-visible identity signaling, quota-style roles, or mismatches to story logic. Critics occasionally noted the "white-washed" feel compared to other LA films, confirming lack of representation push.
Woke political dialogue
No activist, DEI, identity, or social-justice language or lectures of any kind in the dialogue or voiceover.
Identity-driven story themes
Core premise and arcs revolve around personal obsession, conspiracy paranoia, pop culture as potentially meaningless or manipulative, and nihilistic alienation; no race, gender, sexuality, or representation themes structure the narrative or character journeys.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Portrays Hollywood/pop culture surfaces, wealthy elites, and a secret cult of powerful men with multiple young "wives" sealed in tombs as grotesque and absurd, plus broader LA meaninglessness; this follows classic noir and paranoid thriller traditions rather than modern activist framing of toxic masculinity, patriarchy, whiteness, anti-capitalism as identity politics, or institutional guilt.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. Original screenplay; no established characters, canon, source material, or historical figures altered for ideological or identity-driven reasons.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No notable social media, news, or public complaints from anti-woke or right-leaning perspectives accusing the film of advancing woke, DEI, identity politics, or left-wing activist content. Critical noise was about quality, length, and some progressive objections to perceived misogyny or insufficient condemnation of the male lead.
Creator track record context
Director David Robert Mitchell has no activist, identity-driven, or political pattern in prior work or statements. Certain producers carry higher individual records (e.g., Adele Romanski via Moonlight's Black queer focus; Daniela Taplin Lundberg via The Kids Are All Right's lesbian family story; David Moscow's self-described environmental and community activism), but these do not visibly shape this title's content, marketing, or reception, which remains detached and non-ideological.
Production
