Watch a Clip From Ryan Gosling’s LOST RIVER

Seems like Ryan Gosling was definitely paying attention while working with directors like Nicolas Winding Refn and Derek Cianfrance because the first clip from his directorial debut, Lost River, looks both solid and appropriately strange. The film premieres in the Un Certain Regard category this week at Cannes, where Gosling has been before, starring in Refn's Drive and Only God Forgives, and Cianfrance's Blue Valentine. But this time he returns as a director with his first feature, and I'm so jealous of everyone in France right now.

The film follows Billy, a single mother of two (Christina Hendricks), as she enters a dark and disturbing fantasy world searching for her son, who has simultaneously discovered a secret road leading to an underwater town. Our first look at the film is in keeping with that surreal plot description, with what appears to be Billy's son traveling down a road, encountering Matt Smith's bizarre, sequined jacket-wearing character, who shouts, "Look at my muscles!" Please let this be the new "Look at my shit!" There's also a shot of a flaming house.

I can't wait to see how much Gosling really learned from working with Refn and Cianfrance, two distinct directors whose work I absolutely adore. The film also boasts a pretty cool supporting cast, including Ben Mendelsohn, Eva Mendes, and Saoirse Ronan. We should know more about the film when it premieres this week.