Ryan Gosling’s 'Lost River' trailer is what happens when a hot guy also tries to get deep and artsy

It’s a Hollywood law: If you’re a man who stars in enough moody, artsy films and collect enough praise for doing so, eventually you’re going to make your own. (Curiously, this seems to afflict women far less frequently.) And so we have Lost River, Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut, whose official trailer is out now.

While it’s confusing and fragmented for effect, it appears to vaguely center on a family, headed by Christina Hendricks (aka Joan from Mad Men), trying to survive in a post-flood, middle-America wasteland. The trailer’s melancholy, beautiful, but also kind of prettily shallow in the way of, say, a Lana del Rey song. Here’s the recipe, more or less:

Terence Malick-y, Tree of Life-worthy mumbling voice-overs and dreamy nature shots

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Fellini and Kubrick as filtered through Kanye West’s “Runaway” obsession with things on fire

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Harmony Korine-esque white people struggle porn

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A dash of Nicholas Winding Refn and Drive, but mostly in terms of the low lighting and soundtrack

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When Lost River debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, reviewers described it with choice phrases like “nuts at its core” and “colossally indulgent.” But let’s be real—if you’re a sucker for the creative folly of handsome men, sad electronic music, and Tumblr-ready High Art Projects, this is catnip. Sign us up.

Arielle Castillo is Fusion’s culture editor, reporting on arts, music, culture, and subcultures from the streets on up. She’s also a connoisseur of weird Florida, weightlifting, and cats.