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1[[quoteright:345:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/84ea1030080ab602e3ac4c32e2fc4af9.jpg]]
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3''Lost River'' is a Fantasy/Neo-Noir…[[MindScrew Thing]] written and directed by Creator/RyanGosling and starring Creator/ChristinaHendricks, [[Series/AgentsOfSHIELD Iain De Caestecker]], Creator/MattSmith, Creator/SaoirseRonan, Eva Mendes and Creator/BenMendelsohn. The [[RandomEventsPlot “plot”]] could reasonably be summed up as follows: In an initial setup resembling a Neo-Dickensian fairy tale, Billy (Hendricks) struggles to provide for her sons in downtrodden Detroit. Her son Bones (Caestecker) spends his days collecting scrap copper while trying to avoid Bully (Smith) who controls the area. Billy eventually works for a murder-themed burlesque house while Bones finds out about Lost River, a city that was flooded when a reservoir was built. Bones is told by his neighbor Rat (Ronan) that if he breaks off a piece of land and brings it to the surface, the “curse” cast over the land will end.
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5The film premiered at Cannes in 2014 to almost universally negative reviews, to the point where rumors spread that the film’s distributor Creator/WarnerBros was selling the film to another company. Eventually, the film was released via a limited release/VOD plan. [[note]] It opened in three theaters in the entire US.[[/note]]
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7!!Tropes:
8* AerithAndBob: There are characters named Bones, Rat, Bully and Face contrasted with characters named Billy, Cat and Dave.
9* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Bully, Face and Dave.]]
10* AttemptedRape: [[spoiler:It’s implied through Dave’s bizarre dance routine in the club’s basement that he intends to have his way with Billy. He gets stabbed in the ear for his trouble.]]
11* AxCrazy: For Bully, it could be best described as “Scissor Crazy”.
12* BaldOfEvil: Or “Shaved Head of Evil” for Bully.
13* BigBad: Bully.
14* ChekhovsGun: Billy shows the taxi driver her switchblade when he expresses concern for her safety. Near the end of the film, she uses it to fend off [[spoiler:Dave]].
15* CrapsackWorld: The Detroit of ''Lost River'' isn’t a particularly happy place to be.
16* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The club basement, which is all purple lighting.
17* DyingTown: The titular Lost River.
18* UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}}: Both where it takes place and where it was shot. Yes, it is as run-down as it looks.
19* TheDragon: Face.
20* EarAche: [[spoiler:Billy stabs Dave in his good ear.]]
21* EmptyShell: Rat’s Grandmother, who does nothing but watch footage from [[spoiler:her wedding with her dead husband.]]
22* {{Expy}}: Bully is a [[Film/BlueVelvet leather-jacketed, psychotic, drugged-out rapist thug full of ranting monologues who is the head bad guy in charge of a decaying, nondescript area]] and vaguely resembles some kind of supernatural fairy tale villain. Gosling's [[Creator/DavidLynch directorial influences should be obvious]].
23* FacialHorror: [[spoiler:Bully cuts off Face’s lips, and the latter walks around with their mutilated remains.]]
24** Billy's act at the nightclub involves her taking a scalpel to her face.
25* LeFilmArtistique
26* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler:Rat’s house burns down with her grandmother inside, so her, Bones, Billy and their brother leave.]]
27* ImprobableWeaponUser: [[spoiler: Bones eventually stops Bully through a dinosaur head.]]
28* ImprobableInfantSurvival: [[spoiler: Thankfully played straight.]]
29* KickTheDog: Bully [[spoiler:killing Rat's pet rat]].
30* MindScrew: Many note that it’s akin to a fairy tale.
31* RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler:Bully crashes his car into the burning wreck of Bones's car, flies through the windshield and gets trapped with his head underwater with his legs on fire.]]
32* RuleOfSymbolism: The letter "D" (for "Debt") is painted on the foreclosed house [[Literature/TheScarletLetter in bright red]] at the beginning of the film, in a contemporary allusion to Creator/NathanielHawthorne's "A".
33* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler:At the end, Bones, his brother, Billy and Rat decide to leave Detroit.]]
34* ShearMenace: Bully's preferred instrument of violence is a pair of scissors. He's fond of [[LipLosses cutting peoples' lips off with them]].
35* TheStinger: A brief scene after the credits shows the street lamps leading into the reservoir turning off one by one.
36* TrippyFinaleSyndrome

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