Overview: A single mother is swept into a dark underworld, while her teenage son discovers a road that leads him to a secret underwater town.

Blu ray Verdict: Directed by Ryan Gosling, and originally called 'How to Catch a Monster,' if you are wanting to immersive yourself into the stark world of 'Lost River,' be prepared to not come out the other end wholly mentally whole. Shot on location here in Detroit, MI a couple of years ago, 'Lost river' is the story about a single mother who is swept into a dark underworld - while her son discovers an underwater town.

In truth, I have been interested in seeing how 'Lost River' turned out ever since seeing the filming downtown. Then came the very first teaser trailer for it, complete with fairy tale imagery and with the repeating words of "Look at my muscles" from Matt Smith ('Doctor Who'). Sadly though, word came down the pipeline that the movie was sadly booed at the Cannes Film Festival, which didn't bode too well for my viewing expectancy levels.

Gosling has some interesting ideas. He failed in putting them together neatly, which may have been on purpose. In an age of omnipresent shiny stuff to grab our attention, Goslings shiny stuff doesn't quite hold mine. Good performances. Matt smith was a surprise. Ronin steals every scene she's in. Hendricks is OK, but predictable compared to the other performances. Mendez was great. Gosling knows how to get the most out of her.

Basically, the whole "American Dream" thing is slowly, but surely turning into a sad, and devolved nightmare. Governed by 'dark subcultures' which seem to be gaining momentum while murder, mass genocide, chaos and destruction continue to reign supreme. This is what's at the twisted heart of 'Lost River.'

That all said, and now after seeing the movie, I can honestly see what Ryan Gosling was trying to reach, but it didn't really mash well on screen, so to speak. Ergo, the overall result is a mess of a film, but I still can't fault, or hate Gosling for what he bravely attempted to portray on screen. Perhaps he can learn from this and bring us a much better directed movie in the future. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs.

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'LOST RIVER' Trailer