Ryan Gosling's Lost River: First trailer sees Matt Smith chant 'Look at my muscles!'

The actor's magical-realist thriller premieres at Cannes later this afternoon

A film still from Ryan Gosling's directorial debut Lost River (Cannes Film Festival)

Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut, Lost River, is due to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this afternoon. To appease fans’ appetite as they wait for reviews, the first, rather strange trailer has been released.

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The Canadian actor’s magical-realist thriller, featured under the Un Certain Regard selection, tells the dark tale of single mother Billy (Christina Hendricks) who finds herself lost in a bleak and eerie underworld.

Her teenage son Bones, played by Iain De Caestecker, is led into an underwater town after stumbling upon a secret road.

Matt Smith stars as the sequinned jacket-wearing Bully, seen harassing Bones in the surreal teaser clip and chanting “Look at my muscles!” amid dramatic images of burning bicycles and houses.

“He’s a very handsome man, that’s for sure,” Smith told Total Film last spring. “He’s got a really clear, really brilliant vision for his film and I’m a huge fan of his work as an actor. I think he makes brilliant choices.”

Other new films to preview at Cannes this year include Nicole Kidman's Grace of Monaco which opened the festival last Wednesday; sports biopic Foxcatcher which won cheers at its screening yesterday; Palme d'Or favourite Winter Sleep; and Kristen Stewart's Clouds of Sils Maria, also starring Juliette Binoche.