Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut will make its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival shortly, but today the first Lost River clip has landed online to give the rest of us an idea of what to expect from the ambitious feature.  The answer, apparently, is something weird and slightly hypnotic.  The film, previously titled How to Catch a Monster, weaves elements of fantasy noir and suspense, and centers on a single mother of two and her teenage son who stumble upon a road leading to an underwater town.  This debut clip doesn’t have any dialogue but features a scene that involves Matt Smith (Doctor Who) and Iain De Caestecker (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), and Gosling wasn’t lying when he said his style was a mix between Nicolas Winding Refn and Derek Cianfrance.

Hit the jump to check out the Lost River clip for yourself.  The film also stars Christina Hendricks, Ben Mendelsohn, Eva Mendes, and Saoirse Ronan.

Watch the Lost River clip below, via The Playlist.