Andrew Garfield has taken a bit of a fall. He went from being passive aggressively accepted as the third best Spider-Man to being cast as a miserable drug-head. Thankfully, he plays the roles he is been given with such passion that fans cannot help but find him a little bit charming. Sadly, that is not enough to save his newest film “Under the Silver Lake.” It is a film about an unhygienic despot weaving through conspiracy theories to try to track down his next-door neighbor, not because he is worried about her but because she promised she would hook up with him.

Just like it is protagonist, the film does not have a lot going for it. It is drenched in metaphorical symbolism about a variety of things, but none of them are connected to the plot at large. Sex, drugs and conspiracy runs through the film without any real stop, but the pacing is probably symbolic of something to do with youth. 

It would not be that much of a drawback, but the overall beats of the film are poorly defined. It quickly becomes unclear what the film’s major plotline is. The most prevalent seems to be the case of “The Dog Killer,” an enigmatic force throughout the film. This ends up taking a backseat for much of the film though, which seems to try to zoom in on the protagonist’s struggles. All of which seem to begin and end with his miserable personality.

Sam, the main character, is not someone that makes it easy to root for: he is a pervert, beats up kids and seems kind of stupid. He seems content to spend his time masturbating, smoking and watching his neighbors through a spy-glass. While he does seem to be given a reason to do what he does, the combination of terrible acts, one after the other, makes it hard to root for him, no matter how much we try to rationalize his actions.

The only credence he adds is a sense of an unreliable narrator. His vivid hallucinations are set straight at the start and can provide an interesting visual metaphor for how he views the world. Women bark at him, things that are unrelated have meaning and overall the viewer is welcome to question reality whenever they want. 

Granted, what the madness does for subtext often ruins everything else. Many scenes are dedicated to watching him ramble off numbers, trying to find a pattern he noticed and attempting to decode one of his various conspiracies. The first time it happens has a bit of charm, but it quickly runs dry during the two-and-a-half-hour runtime. Fans who do not enjoy that kind of bumbling nonsense will quickly find themselves bored.

For all of the hard work and intrigue the movie puts out, the stumbles make it a lot harder to beckon a closer look. Whenever one thing is working, something else is not up to shape. When the acting is good, the writing is not working. When the plot is building up intrigue, Sam is there to remind us that he sucks. Whatever is under that silver lake should be left there undisturbed.

Image from A24 via YouTube