The key to understanding Under the Silver Lake (2018, David Robert Mitchell) is to approach it for what it is a guy in LA susceptible to the influence of pop culture to the point it has oversaturated his entire existence desperate to find hidden meanings covering up vast far reaching conspiracies through secret codes turns out to be right the whole time. Everything that happens to SAM is real. Save for two separate dream sequences. The film operates according to the logic that what if someone was losing their mind drowning in delusions of conspiracy theories but turns out they were all true? That’s the fun. David Robert Mitchell gets cinema. He’s made a movie where as a work of fiction a movie is capable of allowing for the possibility to give us an experience where conspiracy theories pay off. It makes the impossible possible. Unlike irl.
Yet Under the Silver Lake also serves a dual purpose in that it baits would be conspiracy theorist types with a bunch of red herrings and other circumstantial evidence tantalizing them to make their own interpretations that are groundless completely far-fetched and have no bearing on the narrative itself. Like Sam’s a murderer. No. Like Sam’s a schizophrenic. No. And that’s also what makes it so fun too. This self-reflexive aspect is so pronounced that even those of us who know everything that happens to Sam is real and not to infer anything the film doesn’t give us still can’t help but enjoy all of its mischievous deliberately misleading plot points.
Beware of the Dog Killer Sam isn’t the dog killer. But the film certainly has enough in it for some to draw this wholly circumstantial interpretation. 1. Because the first shot of the film has Beware of the Dog Killer vandalism on the window of the coffee shop this is an instance where it leads to Sam’s perspective being affected by society. A collective anxiety rubbing off on him. When he finds the Beware of the Dog Killer zine in the bookstore this displays a self-reflexive narrative within a self-reflexive narrative.
The Barking When Sam follows the girl played by Zosia Mamet into the restroom and afterwards lying on the floor that group of young women bark at him this really happens. It’s another misdirect this time leading viewers to speculate Sam hating women = Sam hating dogs = Sam killing women = Sam killing dogs. No. How do I know? Because in both of Sam’s dreams the figures in the dream bark and the sounds are of dogs barking. The girls in the restroom barking are the sounds of their own human voices.
His Smell Sam got sprayed by a skunk so he smells. Another plaything for those prone to speculation without the film offering any supporting evidence that would prove otherwise. At the outdoor night screening one of the Shooting Star girls even says it smells like skunk when Sam nears them.
The Can of Red Spray Paint In Sam’s room there’s a can of red spray paint. Easter egg red herring. Sam did not tag Beware of the Dog Killer on the street.
Disappearance of Sarah In bed when SARAH tells Sam the bracelet was from an old boyfriend then out in the courtyard the way she stares fixated up at the fireworks makes me think she didn’t know until that point that Jefferson Sevence was going through with his ascension protocols and selected her as one of his brides. Yes the fireworks did contain a secret message for Sarah and possibly the other two brides.
The Homeless King The guide played by David Yow is real. For those successful in decoding the secret messages hidden for the power elites he is here to open the doors. Why does he ask Sam Do you know what your biggest mistake was? And pull out the dog treats? This is one of the exceptionally ambiguous moments in the film. I stand by my conviction Sam’s telling the truth. And the Homeless King is confronting him about not being able to move on from his ex be stuck in the past pining for a sentimental comfort that is long gone unattainable because Homeless King is a sage.
The Songwriter Real. Three slash dangerous. Remember it’s only a movie. So fun. Sam’s a murderer though. Your culture is the shell of other men’s ambitions.
The Owl’s Kiss Real. Kills the zine author because he exposed her secrets. Powerful enough to cover it up fake it as a suicide. Tries to kill Sam but he defends himself and for the moment scares her off? Maybe. Or to risk a bit of hypocrisy going against my own key without evidence my intuition leans more toward Owl’s Kiss broke in to steal Sam’s Vanna White research from his dresser.
13 When the three girls in the convertible stop and the scoreboard lights up 7 5 1 we know this = 13. They go to a Jesus and the Brides of Dracula show that night. At that show cookies are passed out with 76 we know = 13. The cookies are an invite to one of the members of the group’ solo performance. 13 is just a gimmick promo for the band. But the deeper hidden message is 13 = one guy three wives = billionaire bunker directions backmasked on the seven inch.
The Ending A message for us plainly out in the open is when Sam talks to Sarah in the bunker she says There’s no getting out now so I may as well make the most of it then there’s a cutaway to the Hollywood sign. An uplifting note to end on. Billboard putting up new ad covering his ex is Sam is ready for next chapter in life. When Sam goes over to Topless Bird Woman’s flat it’s him dodging his eviction making the least possible effort to do so. When he stands on the balcony and looks into his place his euphoria is fulfillment contentment seeing the keep quiet diamonds validates that he has attained insight into the explanation to the mystery his quest led him on. And he’s now part of a select few who will ever know. And it’s settled. And he’ll never tell anyone.
Beating Up Children Keying a cock onto the bonnet of one’s auto could be infuriating. In this film having everything to do with symbols and unknown forces I think Sam by sheer luck chance catching the culprits in the act is too cathartic karmic comeuppance to pass up.
Unsupportive Friends and Acquaintances Sam’s buddy played by Topher Grace doesn’t really care about what’s most important to Sam. When Sam talks about missing Sarah Bar Buddy changes subject to Dog Killer. Insert of Sam anxiously twisting cocktail napkin shows he can’t stop thinking about what happened to Sarah. Later Bar Buddy talks down all Sam’s paranoia.
When Balloon Girl tells Sam It’s silly wasting your energy on something that doesn’t matter Brimful of Asha by Cornershop is an easter egg not for Sam but for us suggesting through its lyrics that there’s hope optimism on a forty-five foreshadows the seven inch Sam just obtained that will contain a secret message and lead him onwards to the path to his ultimate quest. And we see it payoff unlike say Sam’s Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde poster in his living room hinting at an alter-ego yet we never see any occurrences that could indicate support such a theory.
Under the Silver Lake is Alice in Wonderland for Millennials where following the Volkswagen white Rabbit leads to as the author of the zine tells Sam where the Answers remain hidden under the Silver Lake. My only lingering curiosity troubling me is what was up with the pack of Fruit Stripe in Sarah’s shoe box? Just kidding. I’m not gonna take the bait. I have all I came for. And it’s a hell of a fun movie to rewatch.
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