Bedsheet Revelations: A David Lowery Deep Dive
David Lowery is one of the most fascinating storytellers of the modern filmmaking era. Touting five highly intriguing feature films with a sixth releasing today, the writer-director’s artistic vision taps into the human experience with acute perception. His movies are deep explorations of imaginative worlds, inhabited by subjects whose perspectives are often driven by love, purpose, and personal attachment. These dreamlike dimensions are beautifully shot with boundless originality and stark visual elegance.
This keen sense for capturing humanity with such moody distinction is perfectly suited to Lowery’s latest project, the hotly anticipated The Green Knight, set to release today on July 30th. This sprawling fantasy epic delves into the Arthurian exploits of Sir Gawain (Dev Patel) as he embarks on a quest to vanquish a legendary foe. While The Green Knight is clearly built on a wider breadth of scale than his previous films, it’s deeply rooted in the same sense of spiritual crisis—a journey to find self-worth through pursuit of eternal greatness.
Given the scope of his latest endeavor, it’s become clear that few directors today have the bandwidth to tap into their creative instincts in the way Lowery can. Entry to entry, his body of work is reinforced by a deeply felt artisanship. Between the lines, you’ll find connectivity between their visual expression and thematic significance—a pairing that is often used to establish tone, build dynamics between characters, or mirror internal feelings. While his films haven’t achieved an overwhelming amount of mainstream success, his place in the pantheon of contemporary filmmaking goes unquestioned. Let’s revisit the five distinguished films that comprise David Lowery’s prior canon.
St. Nick (2009)
In the faraway plains of North Texas, 19-year old David Lowery wrote and directed Lullaby, his first short film, equipped only with a deeply embedded love for cinema but no previous experience whatsoever. For several years, he’d go on to collaborate on a number of local projects that circulated regional festivals until finally, he got the opportunity to make his first feature film entitled St. Nick in 2008. This tender, sweeping arthouse drama paints the lives of two runaway siblings (Savanna and Tucker Sears) living in squalor to escape a troublesome reality in the American southland.
This micro-budget drama was made for just $12,000, but its lo-fi minimalism speaks to Lowery’s natural talent for visual storytelling. Dialogue is used sparingly, which forces the narrative to play out through meticulous shot and scene direction. Every withering tree, every tortured expression, each discernable nuance evokes imagery and emotion through the eyes of children who navigate a desolate, colorless world.
Lowery’s phenomenal grasp on artistic control results in a superlative quality that embeds itself into all of his ensuing work. In what would eventually come to define his inherent style, St. Nick introduces a powerful dynamic between visual sadness and youthful wonder that observes life’s jagged edges with a uniquely woven perspective.
The film was praised at South By Southwest though it mostly dissipated from the popular consciousness, considering how few people saw it. Even now, the film can only be streamed through one proprietary streaming service. But much like his pint-sized protagonists, Lowery’s stories would persist and continue exploring the beauty in human struggle.
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (2013)
Beaming with creative propulsion after St. Nick’s understated critical success, Lowery established Sailor Bear, an independent production company in 2011. Soon thereafter, he began work on a new love story with classic sensibilities; a doomed romance with old-timey evocations of bluegrass mythology.
Driven by a pair of impassioned performances from Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck, this 2013 indie drama follows Bob Muldoon, an outlaw who escapes incarceration to reunite with his lover Ruth and newborn daughter. Emotionally provocative and beautifully shot, this film approaches the Bonnie & Clyde mystique with an Old West feel and a foundation in grounded realism.
Having made its initial run in the 2013 film festival circuit to unanimous acclaim, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints is the definitive launchpad of Lowery’s career. Not only does he manage to tell a captivating story with a well-known cast on a shoestring budget, but from a technical perspective, his eye for cinematic composition reaches new heights of maturity. Each shot is constructed with purpose and feeling, creating an ambiance that looms over its star-crossed lovers.
Peppered with the rustic warmth of a timeless old folk song, the film’s visual energy hits you like warm desert air. Though Lowery chooses to emphasize the unspoken intimacy between two lovers entwined in their own little world, the Texan atmosphere engrosses you in their lover’s plight. This tender intimacy is a staple he returns for the ongoing length of his career, though his stories only grow in scale.
Pete’s Dragon (2016)
With a resume soundly building, Lowery is eventually approached by Disney to re-examine a beloved fable lost to time. The end result is a melancholy daydream through peaks and valleys of pain and hopefulness, a scary world through the eyes of an inquisitive kid whose story elicits equal shades of Steven Spielberg and Spike Jonze.
This contemporary retelling of the 1977 classic follows Pete (Oakes Fegley), a young boy who finds companionship with a mythical dragon after a fatal car crash leaves him orphaned and stranded in the forest. Though tonally, it’s slightly gloomier than your average Disney movie, it carefully retains their essence of mysticism and childlike wonder.
Beautifully filmed through lush, green filters of Pacific Northwestern mist, Lowery lent his perceptive eye to a grand-scale project in the major studio system. This artistic dexterity helps paint Pete’s odyssey as not just a spirited adventure movie, but a cathartic meditation on childhood adversity. By wearing the disguise of a whimsical Disney dragon movie, it can simultaneously succeed as a contemplative study on the importance of family.
With a stellar supporting cast that includes Bryce Dallas Howard, Karl Urban, and Robert Redford, the film went on to become Lowery’s first commercial success, earning $143 million in global box-office revenue. In light of its monetary accolades, the movie also exudes an unwavering artistry about it. Despite working within the rigid framework of a towering media syndicate, Lowery’s distinguished ability to create noble and respected movies proved his worthiness for wielding bigger and bolder projects.
A Ghost Story (2017)
Immediately after working with Disney, Lowery retreated into a dimension of esoterica to make one of the most brilliant avant-garde films of the last decade. This gloomy drift into the cosmic void follows a widow (Rooney Mara) who struggles to piece her life together after the death of her husband (Casey Affleck), whose spirit is resigned to linger in the home that they shared. Slow-burn but fully absorbing, this supernatural drama is a melancholy snapshot of grief, mortality, and the passage of time.
Infamously known for a five-minute segment where Rooney Mara eats pie in total silence while the blanketed ghost watches from an adjacent room, A Ghost Story is unconventionally crafted—admittedly speaking, its audacity might test some viewers’ patience. But for those who allow themselves to grapple with its larger concepts, they’ll find a uniquely thought-provoking experience at its core.
A Ghost Story’s central themes bear the existential weight of infinity, but by affixing our perspective to a standing bedsheet with eyeholes, this comical representation finds belonging in the space between simplicity and self-seriousness. While some might complain about its avant-garde craftsmanship, its silliness never strives to be better than its audience.
Breathtakingly shot, Lowery’s slow-crawling camera patiently digests the full spectrum of its surroundings. This conscious technical choice speaks to its thematic meditations on time and where we ultimately fit in the vast equation. These deep, metaphysical notions lie at the very center of A Ghost Story, a powerfully eccentric film that has something genuine to say about life, death, and the transcendental struggle to just let go.
The Old Man & The Gun (2018)
If there’s any validity to the observational judgments about Lowery’s work, it’s his tendency to lean toward darker, gloomier projects. A majority of his films have a slightly depressive allure, which lends itself to the tone or a deeper metaphor to be extracted within. His most recent entry breaks away from this mold by taking a more lighthearted approach and giving a monumental send-off to the illustrious career of Robert Redford, a true screen acting legend.
Redford’s effortless charms bring life to the movie’s magnetic antihero, Forrest Tucker. He’s a geriatric bank robber who, at the ripe age of 74, goes on the run from a lawman (Casey Affleck) hot on his trail. The film capitalizes on Redford’s charismatic appeal to its maximum extent, playing on all the pre-existing mythos that has accumulated over his decadent 50-year run.
Announcing his retirement shortly after the film’s wrap (despite his brief cameo appearance in Avengers: Endgame just one year later), Redford’s final starring role is a cherished farewell to an immortal luminary of cinema. Blending the sly charms of Bob Woodward with the smarmy fortitude of Sundance Kid, the elderly Forrest Tucker embodies a devilish but lovable archetype that doesn’t really exist in movies anymore. His portrayal
Lowery’s sharp direction enlivens The Old Man & The Gun with levity, style, and the carefree bounce of a freewheeling jazz album. In direct contrast with his previous work, Lowery assembles this film with an upbeat effervescence to mirror Redford’s infectious charisma. It subsequently garnered overwhelming acclaim from critics and fans alike, even earning Redford a Best Actor nomination at the 76th Annual Golden Globe awards.
With a resume like this, it’s no wonder Lowery has taken the reins on such imaginative projects as The Green Knight or the upcoming Disney retelling of Peter Pan & Wendy. His body of work is a stunning assortment of stories that ultimately mirror his preternatural vision: the world through a lens of endless possibility.