A24's Steamy LA Drama Will Change How You See Andrew Garfield

It hasn't even been two decades since Andrew Garfield earned his first screen credit. But in the years since his five-episode stint on the UK teen drama "Sugar Rush," he's become one of the most-loved and in-demand actors of his generation, logging roles in lauded indies ("Boy A," "Never Let Me Go"), studio tentpoles ("The Amazing Spider-Man"), and awards season players ("The Social Network," "The Eyes of Tammy Faye") alike. 

Along the way, Garfield has continued to claim roles as wildly varied as they are challenging. In 2018, he booked the lead role in a film that arguably put his talents to use in ways none had before. That film is A24's mind-melting mystery flick "Under the Silver Lake," and it finds Garfield playing Sam, a hapless Los Angeles hipster who embarks on a manic mystery tour of the city's upper-crust underground after uncovering a conspiracy deeper and darker than the titular body of water. It also finds Garfield baring a little more skin than his fans are likely accustomed to, as the film contains a few scenes that are, shall we say, adult in nature.

It's hardly the first time Garfield has played against type, of course. But rarely has the actor so wholly embraced his inner sleaze for a role. And If you wanna see what all the commotion is about, you'll be happy to know "Under the Silver Lake" is currently available on Showtime.

"Under the Silver Lake" was released to middling reviews in the late summer of 2018. And if you know anything about the film's plot, you know the modern, noir-tinged mystery was hardly an easy project to market, with even indie powerhouse A24 struggling to drum up much interest at the box office despite Andrew Garfield's obvious star appeal. And no, the film's epic 2-hour and 19-minute runtime didn't exactly have the average moviegoer charging to the cinema.

"Under the Silver Lake" has, however, developed a well-earned cult following in the years since its release, with viewers continuing to find plenty to love in David Robert Mitchell's meandering and, at times, deeply paranoid puzzle box drama. As for how Garfield got involved in such an obsessively left-field sort of project, he admitted to Empire in 2018 that Mitchell hardly needed to pitch him on "Under the Silver Lake" as he was already a fan of the filmmaker's previous films, 2010's "The Myth of the American Sleepover" and 2014's genre sensation "It Follows."

While some fans were surely shocked to see Garfield break a little sleazy in Mitchell's cagey, voyeuristic tale of listless losers, sunbaked L.A. opulence, and misogynistic upscale doomsday cults, "Under the Silver Lake" arguably fronts one of his finest performances to date. And if you're down to follow the actor into the kaleidoscopically nihilistic, if sometimes scintillating recesses of Hollywood, the cinematic psychedelia of "Under the Silver Lake" is sure to provide a trip you'll not soon forget.