Under the Silver Lake Budget

What Is the Budget of Under the Silver Lake?

Under the Silver Lake was produced on an estimated budget of $8 million. Writer-director David Robert Mitchell secured the financing through A24, the independent studio that had backed his breakout horror film It Follows (2015). The modest budget reflected the project's indie credentials, though the scope of Mitchell's vision, spanning elaborate set pieces, musical sequences, and densely layered production design across Los Angeles, pushed the shoot to its financial limits.

For a film steeped in conspiracy puzzles and cinematic homage, the $8 million figure represented a significant step up from It Follows' reported $2 million budget, signaling A24's confidence in Mitchell as a filmmaker capable of commanding a larger canvas.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

The $8 million budget was distributed across production demands that reflected the film's ambitious scope and Los Angeles setting.

• Cast and Talent comprised a meaningful share, with Andrew Garfield attached as the lead following his Oscar-nominated turn in Hacksaw Ridge. Supporting players Riley Keough, Topher Grace, and Jimmi Simpson added name recognition without blockbuster price tags.
• Location and Set Design consumed a significant portion of the budget. The film was shot extensively across real Los Angeles neighborhoods, from Silver Lake and Los Feliz to Hollywood Hills estates, requiring permits and logistics for dozens of practical locations that gave the film its sun-drenched, paranoid texture.
• Production Design was unusually detailed for a film at this budget level. Mitchell and production designer Michael Perry filled every frame with hidden codes, recurring symbols, and pop culture references that rewarded repeat viewings, requiring meticulous set dressing and prop fabrication.
• Cinematography under Mike Gioulakis (who also shot It Follows and Us) employed widescreen anamorphic photography with elaborate camera movements, including several extended tracking shots that demanded careful choreography and multiple takes.
• Music and Score reunited Mitchell with composer Rich Vreeland, known as Disasterpeace, whose electronic-orchestral hybrid score required studio recording sessions. The film also licensed period and contemporary songs woven into its Los Angeles atmosphere.
• Post-Production and Visual Effects accounted for select digital work supporting the film's surreal sequences, along with an extended editing process as Mitchell refined the cut from its initial longer runtime down to the theatrical 139-minute version.

How Does Under the Silver Lake's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

Under the Silver Lake occupies an unusual space: an indie-budgeted film with genre-blending ambitions typically associated with higher price points. Comparing it to other mystery-driven and conspiracy-themed films provides useful context.

• It Follows (2014) had a budget of $2M against a worldwide gross of $23.3M. Mitchell's previous film proved he could deliver striking visual storytelling on a fraction of what Under the Silver Lake received, and its commercial success earned him the larger canvas.
• Inherent Vice (2014) had a budget of $20M against a worldwide gross of $14.7M. Paul Thomas Anderson's similarly labyrinthine Los Angeles noir, adapted from Thomas Pynchon, operated at more than double the budget and still struggled commercially, suggesting the audience for dense, conspiracy-laden narratives is inherently niche.
• Mulholland Drive (2001) had a budget of $15M against a worldwide gross of $20.1M. David Lynch's surrealist LA mystery is the most direct spiritual ancestor. It too divided critics at Cannes before developing a devoted following, and at nearly twice the budget it also faced a challenging theatrical run.
• The Long Goodbye (1973) had a budget of $1.7M against a worldwide gross of $5.1M (adjusted for inflation, roughly $12M budget equivalent). Robert Altman's deconstructed Philip Marlowe adaptation, a clear influence on Mitchell's film, similarly baffled audiences on release before being reevaluated as a classic.
• Sorry to Bother You (2018) had a budget of $3.2M against a worldwide gross of $18.2M. Another ambitious, genre-bending A24-era indie from the same year, Boots Riley's debut found commercial traction that eluded Under the Silver Lake, partly through a more timely social hook.

Under the Silver Lake Box Office Performance

Under the Silver Lake's theatrical release was, by conventional metrics, virtually nonexistent in the United States. After premiering at Cannes in May 2018, A24 repeatedly delayed the domestic release, initially slated for June 2018, then pushed to December 2018, and finally given a limited platform release on April 19, 2019, nearly a full year after its premiere.

The film earned approximately $200,000 domestically, reflecting its extremely limited US theatrical footprint. Internationally, the film performed somewhat better, collecting an additional $2.5 million for a worldwide total of roughly $2.73 million. Against the $8 million production budget, and factoring in marketing and prints costs, the film fell well short of profitability through theatrical channels.

The standard break-even threshold for theatrical releases sits at roughly two times the production budget (accounting for marketing and distribution fees), placing Under the Silver Lake's target around $16 million. At $2.73 million worldwide, the film recovered approximately 34% of its production budget through ticket sales alone, representing a return on investment of negative 66%.

However, these numbers tell an incomplete story. A24's decision to minimize theatrical exposure and pivot to VOD and digital distribution (the film was released on Amazon Prime Video internationally) suggests the studio recognized early that traditional box office was not the path to recoupment. Home video, streaming licensing, and digital sales likely brought the film closer to financial viability over time, though exact figures for ancillary revenue remain undisclosed.

• Production Budget: $8,500,000
• Estimated P&A: approximately $3,400,000
• Total Investment: approximately $11,900,000
• Worldwide Gross: $2,053,469
• Net Return: approximately $9,800,000 (loss)
• ROI (on production budget): approximately -76%

Under the Silver Lake Production History

David Robert Mitchell began developing Under the Silver Lake shortly after It Follows became a breakout hit in 2014 and 2015. The script drew on Mitchell's own experiences living in the Silver Lake and Los Feliz neighborhoods of Los Angeles, channeling his fascination with hidden patterns, urban legends, and the city's layered history of conspiracy and glamour. Mitchell has described writing the screenplay as an intuitive process, layering in codes, puzzles, and references to everything from Alfred Hitchcock to Nintendo games without a rigid master plan.

A24 committed to the project with Michael De Luca producing alongside Chris Bender and Jake Weiner at Bender/Spink. Andrew Garfield signed on to play Sam, a directionless young man in Silver Lake who becomes obsessed with the disappearance of his neighbor (Riley Keough). Garfield has spoken about being drawn to Mitchell's willingness to make a film that defied easy categorization.

Principal photography took place across Los Angeles in 2017, with cinematographer Mike Gioulakis capturing the city in widescreen anamorphic format. The shoot was demanding, with Mitchell insisting on practical locations throughout Silver Lake, Griffith Park, Hollywood, and the surrounding hills rather than relying on soundstages. Several sequences, including an extended party scene and a crypt exploration, required elaborate blocking and multiple shooting days.

The film premiered in competition at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, where it received a polarized reception. Some critics praised its ambition and visual invention; others found it self-indulgent and overlong. A24 had originally scheduled a wide US release for June 22, 2018, but pulled it from the calendar following the Cannes response. The release was rescheduled to December 2018, then delayed again. The film ultimately received a very limited US theatrical run in April 2019 before moving to digital and VOD platforms, where it began finding its audience.

Awards and Recognition

Under the Silver Lake premiered in the main competition at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, one of only 21 films selected for the Palme d'Or race that year. While it did not win any prizes at the festival, selection alone placed it in elite company alongside Shoplifters (the eventual winner), BlacKkKlansman, and Burning.

The film did not receive significant attention during the traditional awards season, partly because A24's decision to delay the US release until April 2019 removed it from contention for the 2018 cycle, and its limited 2019 release did not generate the kind of visibility needed for major nominations.

Where the film has been most recognized is in retrospective critical reassessment. Multiple publications, including Vulture, The Ringer, and Film Comment, have revisited the film in "underrated" and "cult classic" roundups. Its elaborate production design and Disasterpeace's score have drawn particular praise from genre and film music communities. The film has become a staple of repertory cinema screenings and midnight movie programming, the kind of cultural recognition that formal awards rarely capture.

Critical Reception

Under the Silver Lake holds a 58% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on roughly 170 reviews, with an average score of 6.1 out of 10. On Metacritic, the film sits at 60 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews." These aggregated scores, however, obscure one of the more dramatic critical divides of 2018.

At Cannes, the response split sharply. Supporters compared the film favorably to the paranoid thrillers of the 1970s and praised Mitchell's audacity in constructing a puzzle-box narrative that resisted easy interpretation. The Guardian called it "a wild, freewheeling noir," while Indiewire described it as "a movie that demands to be watched multiple times." Detractors found it bloated, calling the 139-minute runtime excessive and arguing that the conspiracy elements never cohered into a satisfying whole.

The critical conversation shifted notably after the film became available on home video and streaming platforms. Viewers who could pause, rewind, and catalog the film's hidden details, from encoded messages in song lyrics to background graffiti that foreshadows plot points, found more to appreciate than the single-viewing Cannes experience allowed. This second wave of engagement transformed the film's reputation from "interesting failure" to "misunderstood cult classic" in many critical circles.

Andrew Garfield's performance has been singled out as a highlight across both camps. His portrayal of Sam as simultaneously charming and unsettling, a protagonist whose obsessive behavior the film neither fully endorses nor condemns, gave critics and audiences a compelling anchor in an otherwise intentionally disorienting narrative.