Life After the TARDIS: First Look at ‘Doctor Who’s’ Matt Smith in ‘Lost River’

Matt Smith in Ryan Gosling's "Lost River". (Photo: Warner Bros.
Matt Smith in Ryan Gosling's "Lost River". (Photo: Warner Bros.
Remember that movie Doctor Who star Matt Smith was making, right as his time in the TARDIS was winding down? And it’s why he shaved his head and had to wear a wig in his final Christmas special, and all that jazz?

Well, buckle up, gang. That movie has arrived. And it’s probably not anything like what you expected.

Called Lost River, the film is something of a fantasy tale, and marks the directorial debut of the Internet’s Original Boyfriend Ryan Gosling. Smith stars opposite Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks, as well as Iain De Caestecker, Saoirse Ronan, Eva Mendes and Ben Mendelson.

Smith’s character is apparently named Bully, who may or may not inhabit some sort of dreamscape, and there are an awful lot of explosions and fire and destruction and whatnot. 

So, yeah, just as a word of forewarning: this trailer’s real weird and appears to be at least 60 percent comprised of Smith enjoining the audience to admire his muscles and, well, just watch it. I can’t even begin to explain it accurately. 

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Originally called How to Catch a Monster, Gosling’s film is ostensibly about a single mother of two who finds herself in a dark underworld, while her son stumbles upon a road that leads him to an underwater town.

Don’t feel bad if you didn’t get any of that whatsoever from the teaser trailer, I had to look it up on Variety.

The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this week, and is currently getting slaughtered by critics online, so maybe I’m not the only one who had problems figuring out what the heck is going on.

That said, this role certainly seems a big departure for Smith after his time as Eleven, and I’m curious to see what his performance is like. I just might wait for DVD to do it. Maybe.

Thoughts? 


Lacy Baugher

Lacy's love of British TV is embarrassingly extensive, but primarily centers around evangelizing all things Doctor Who, and watching as many period dramas as possible.

Digital media type by day, she also has a fairly useless degree in British medieval literature, and dearly loves to talk about dream poetry, liminality, and the medieval religious vision. (Sadly, that opportunity presents itself very infrequently.) York apologist, Ninth Doctor enthusiast, and unabashed Ravenclaw. Say hi on Threads or Blue Sky at @LacyMB. 

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