Good Morning Cannes, Day 6: Ryan Gosling’s ‘Lost River’ Has Critics Going Insane, Earns David Lynch Comparisons

The actor’s film “Lost River” premiered on Tuesday afternoon, drawing praise, charges of pretension, and confusion

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Judging by early reactions, Ryan Gosling‘s directorial debut is more likely to provide nightmares than memes.

For years, his enigmatic personality and quiet personal life meant Gosling’s face (and abs) were co-opted by internet denizens looking for a viral hit, leading to infinite variations on a “Hey Girl” quote the actor never said in the first place. With “Lost River,” the film that he wrote and directed and premiered at Cannes on Tuesday, Gosling has seemingly begun to fill that vacuum with smoke and confusion, shifting his persona from pin-up hunk to next generation David Lynch in the span of two weird, nightmarish hours.

See video: Ryan Gosling Lights a Bike on Fire and ‘Doctor Who’ Alum Matt Smith Shows Off His Abs in ‘Lost River’ Teaser

The film, which features “Doctor Who” alum Matt Smith (seen showing off his own abs in this teaser yesterday) and “Mad Men” star Christina Hendricks, has drawn perhaps the strongest reactions from anything screened at the festival yet this year. It’s hard to pin down the plot line, based on the tweets coming out of the theater, but then again, comprehension seems to have been quite a challenge for many in the theater, as well.

Here’s a selection of tweets from reporters coming out of the screening, all of whom issued first reactions that make an outsider wonder whether laughing gas had been released through the theater’s vents.

Also read: Good Morning Cannes, Day 5: Steve Carell Has Critics Buzzing Oscar and American Dreams Go Stale

Spoiler Alert: A lot of comparisons to Lynch and frequent Gosling collaborator Nicolas Winding Refn, with whom the actor stumped Cannes last year via “Only God Forgives.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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