The best movies and TV shows from the late, great directorDavid Lynchinclude a strong mix of indie and experimental movies varying from horror and sci-fi to noirs and mystery thrillers. Lynch got his start with directing by making short films in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He enjoyed his breakout movie when he directedEraserheadand released it in 1977 when it became a cult classic and took on a role similar to that ofThe Rocky Horror Picture Show, as a film playing at midnight screenings across the United States.
Thanks to its underground success, Lynch got some financing to move on to make bigger films, and he achieved his first significant critical success when he directed the movieThe Elephant Man, based on the true story of Joseph Merrick.That earned eight Oscar nominations, and Lynch suddenly found himself with the leeway to make more experimental films over his career. This resulted inLynch only making 10 feature-length films, but also resulted in three Best Director Oscar nominations and an Honorary Award in 2019.
After turning down the opportunity to directReturn of the Jedi, David Lynch turned to another sci-fi franchise when he was given the chanceto direct the big-screen adaptation of Frank Herbert’sDune.Lynch worked on the script based on the first novel and helped design the sets they used. While he cast his future collaborator Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides, Lynch hated the experience, saying he lost control of the film and didn’t have the final cut, so he made too many “compromises.”
Dune 1984: How David Lynch’s Sci-Fi Movie Compares to the Book
David Lynch’s misunderstood 1984 sci-fi epic made several changes and revisions to its classic source material: Frank Herbert’s epic novel, Dune.
The film was a box office and critical flop. Universal released an “extended cut” later with scenes re-added that were cut from the original, but it wasn’t what Lynch had in mind. While the studio felt it made for a better film, Lynch had his name removed from that cut and replaced with the name “Judas Booth,” which he said referenced the betrayal. Lynch refused to ever return to make a director’s cut, but it has since become a cult classic for many fans.
Released in 2006,Inland Empireis a movie that tells the story of a Hollywood actress who starts to take on the personality of a character she played in a “cursed” production. Laura Dern is the lead in the film, andInland Empireproves a very strange movie from the start.This was the first time Lynch made a movie without having a finished scriptbefore he started shooting. The director then worked on developing the film on a scene-by-scene basis while shooting it using digital video with a handheld camera.
Inland Empireis most known as the final feature-length movie of Lynch’s career.
The film is a hypnotic picture, with it unclear what is real and what is in Nikki’s mind while shooting the movie within the movie. Lynch preferred to let viewers determine any hidden meanings inInland Empireand allowed it to speak for itself. The film had a very limited release but received positive reviews from critics, who emphasized that it would only attract fans of Lynch’s filmography. However,Inland Empireis most known as the final feature-length movie of Lynch’s career.
Released in 1997,Lost Highwayis a mystery noir about a musician convicted of murder only to disappearand find himself now replaced by a young mechanic named Pete Dayton in his cell. The entire situation is surreal, and the viewers are never sure what is happening throughout the movie. Fred was convicted for the murder of his wife Renee, although he had no memories of committing the murder and had been receiving strange VHS tapes filmed inside his home before the crime took place.
Lost Highway: Why It’s David Lynch’s Most Underrated Movie
From Mulholland Drive to Blue Velvet, many of David Lynch’s dark, surreal movies become cult classics. Alas, Lost Highway hasn’t earned that status.
Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, and Balthazar Getty star in the film, and it also includes the final film performances of Richard Pryor, Jack Nance, and Robert Blake. The entire movie is a bizarre mystery with Feed and Pete switching places, different people involved in various scandals, and a story that David Lynch once again leaves up to the viewers to interpret.Lost Highwayreceived mixed reviews, although it has become a cult classic in later years and has been studied by film scholars.
Eraserheadwas the first feature-length movie that David Lynch made. It was also the film that made him a star, although that took a while since it received very strong mixed reviews early on. Some festivals refused to screen it, calling it a bad movie, while others praised it and lauded its artistic brilliance.Eraserheadis a body-horror movie about a man (Jack Nance) who is left to care for his deformed childwith an inhuman face after his wife leaves him.
Eraserheadwas added to the National Film Registry in 2004.
The entire film is experimental in nature, which explains the widely polarizing response to it. However, its bizarre nature, grotesque imagery, and disturbing situations allowed it to become a massive cult favorite, playing across the nation at midnight screenings, similar toThe Rocky Horror Picture Show. Lynch clearly found inspiration in early surreal films like Luis Buñuel’s 1929 workUn Chien Andalou, and like that film, it took time for audiences to understand its brilliance.
While most of the best David Lynch movies were ones he directed, he also worked as an actor occasionally. In 2022, Lynch appeared in the Steven Spielberg movieThe Fabelmans. This film was a semi-autobiographical story based on Spielberg’s life as a child as he hones his passion for cinema while his parents' marriage unravels. Michelle Williams and Paul Dano starred as the parents, while young Gabriel LaBelle played Sammy, their teenage son and the avatar for Spielberg.
As for Lynch, he starred as the world-renowned filmmaker John Ford. This scene came at the end of the movie whenHogan’s Heroesco-creator Bernard Fein (Greg Grumberg) invited Sammy to meet four-time Oscar-winning director John Ford, who was one of his biggest influences.It is Ford’s advice (as spoken by David Lynch)that convinces Sammy (a stand-in for Spielberg) to push on and make movies.The Fabelmansreceived seven Oscar nominations.
In 1990, David Lynch teamed up with Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern for the romantic crime movieWild at Heart. In this film,Cage plays Sailor Ripley, a man who loves Elvis Presley and his girlfriend Lula Fortune (Dern). However, Lula’s mother Marietta is not a fan of Sailor. As a very wealthy and powerful woman, Marietta hired someone to kill Sailor, but it was Sailor who went to jail for killing his attacker. When Sailor gets out of prison, he and Lula run off together, and Marietta sends people after them again.
Diane Ladd received an Oscar nomination for her performance.
Lynch plays with the themes in this movie a lot, adding an homage toThe Wizard of Ozby showing Lula’s mother is the “Wicked Witch” and that Sailor and Lula have to find their own path down the road to achieve happiness.Wild at Heartwas released at the Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews and won the Palme d’Or. However, Lynch ended up being forced to edit the film to avoid an X-rating in the United States. While it received mixed reviews, Diane Ladd received an Oscar nomination for her performance as Marietta.
David Lynch originally developedMulholland Driveas a TV showto follow up his cult favoriteTwin Peaks. However, after seeing his cut of the pilot, ABC canceled the series, and Lynch took it and found financing to turn it into a movie by adding a new ending and shooting more scenes to lead to it. The original plan was for an open-ended mystery (similar toTwin Peaks), but that changed with the movie, where he told the story of an aspiring actress who befriends an amnesiac in Los Angeles.
Mulholland Driveearned David Lynch a Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival and an Oscar nomination for the same award. Like many of Lynch’s movies, he refused to elaborate on the ending and allowed viewers to determine what they felt the movie was trying to say.Mulhollandhelped elevate Naomi Watts into a star, and it has a high 84% Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score, although it also received scathing reviews as well from other critics.
In 1990, David Lynch brought his bizarre and surreal storytelling to television with the horror dramaTwin Peaks. This series followsan FBI special agent named Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan),who is drawn into the mysterious investigation of murdered local teenager Laura Palmer. The series uses the tropes of detective fiction but adds in surreal horror-centric imagery and very eccentric and campy melodrama to make it unlike anything else on television.
Twin Peakswon three Golden Globes and two Primetime Emmy Awards.
Thanks to its strange design, it was never a ratings success, but it did pick up a very loyal fan following thanks to its cult classic-friendly format. The series also received a movie follow-up calledTwin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, which was a prequel, and then a revival series in 2017, which included most of the original cast returning 27 years later.Twin Peakswon three Golden Globes and two Primetime Emmy Awards.
After David Lynch finished his work onDunedisappointed with the final product, he went to work on his next movie, which was an original story calledBlue Velvet. The film’s basic story follows a college student who finds a human ear in a field, which then leads him to uncover a criminal conspiracy surrounding a lounge singer. Kyle MacLachlan is the college student, and Isabella Rossellini plays lounge singer Dorothy Vallens. However, the man most people connect to the movie is Dennis Hopper.
Hopper plays Frank Booth, a violent drug dealer who has a drug addictionthat has him constantly huffing gas from a tank he carries around with him. He remains one of the scariest villains in movie history, ranking on the list of AFI’s top 50 film villains (viaAFI).Blue Velvetholds a fantastic 91% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Lynch also received a Best Director nomination at the Oscars and a Best Screenplay nomination at the Golden Globes, while Hopper also received an acting nomination.
After his breakout movieEraserhead, David Lynch got a chance to direct a feature-length movie with a real budget. He choseThe Elephant Man, which was based on the real life of Joseph Merrick and was adapted from a pair of books about the man.Merrick was a man with severe physical deformities who was forced to act as an exhibit at carnival showsin the 1800s before he had a chance to meet a surgeon named Sir Frederick Treves. John Hurt played Merrick, while Anthony Hopkins starred as Treves.
David Lynchmade some changes in the real-life story to better create his film, and it ended up a commercial and critical success, making $26 million on a $5 million budget. The film has a 92% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, and it received eight Academy Award nominations. While it didn’t win any, it was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. It did win three BAFTAs, including Best Film and Best Actor.
