With five years of Twin Peaks: The Return this May 2022, new fans of the series may be just discovering David Lynch's movies and that his filmography ranges from sweet stories about an old man and his brother to absolute nightmares revolving around a cursed production.
Lynch is one of the most prominent film directors out there, and while his movies can go from horror stories to heavy dramas, they all share a surrealist and experimental atmosphere and never skimp on the weirdness. He is famous for conducting narratives that feel like fever dreams, often filled with unexpected scares and the strangest characters.
The Straight Story (1999)
There's not a single hint of weirdness in The Straight Story, it's really just a heart-warming tale about an old man in his 70s who sets off on a long journey to see his brother. After learning that his distant brother Lyle has suffered a stroke, Alvin Straight is determined to reconcile with Lyle, even if that means he has to cross the country on his lawnmower.
It's an optimistic portrayal of bonds lost with time and how is never too late to make up with loved ones. Alvin always tries to see the bright side of things or people, and everyone can learn a thing or two with his avid determination.
The Elephant Man (1980)
The Elephant Man is considered by many Lynch's best film but is far from as surreal as his other movies. Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick, the film follows a man with facial differences after he is rescued by a Victorian surgeon. Seen by others as a monstrosity, Merrick is a highly intelligent and sensitive person, fighting to be regarded as the human being he is.
Going through The Elephant Man without crying is possibly an impossible task, as Lynch beautifully directs the emotional appeal of the movie with sensitivity. It's a story about humanity, with little to no weirdness at all.
Dune (1984)
Being a dystopian story based on extensive source material, Dune's weirdness is grounded in its substantial mythology, but it has a considerable amount of Lynch's touch, especially for those viewers unfamiliar with the book. That's mainly because the lore is unraveled without going into too much detail, being easy to get lost in the overly-confusing narrative.
Fans might argue that Dune's universe simply doesn't go with Lynch's style, but the real problem here seems to be the impossible task to cram one of the most extensive sci-fi novels of all time into a 137-minute-long feature film. At least Dune's weird-looking costumes and psychedelic visuals contributed to an overall Lynchian experience.
Blue Velvet (1986)
While there are plenty of weird characters in Blue Velvet, the circumstances take place in a cruel reality. It also has one of the best and weirdest villains in Lynch's filmography, portrayed brilliantly by Dennis Hopper.
After finding a severed human ear in a field, a young man crosses paths with a beautiful, mysterious singer and gets caught up amid her dark connection with a group of criminals. With all its weirdness, Blue Velvet is the naked representation of society, where the dirt and disgust are hidden a few feet under the fancy houses and bright sunny days.
Wild At Heart (1990)
Starting off with a simple plot, it's hard to imagine how things will escalate in such a weird fashion in Wild At Heart, as two young lovers run from a variety of lunatics that were hired to go after them.
Shying away from the typical road movie viewers are used to, this Palme D'Or winner is anything but conventional, led by two outstanding performances by Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern. Wild At Heart opens with one of the most savage and violent scenes in any Lynch movie, setting the tone for a bloody and weird trip ahead.
Mulholland Drive (2001)
While Mulholland Drive is one of Lynch's most surreal works, there's something incredibly familiar about it. The movie is structured in a way layers and layers of mystery are added and reality is drifted to a tempting fantastical stance, creating an atmosphere that immediately resembles that of a dream.
The world of an aspiring actress and a woman who recently lost her memory collide and the two set off on a journey of self-discovery as reality falls apart around them. Considered by many Lynch's masterpiece, it's a movie that challenges the viewer to search for all sorts of distorted symbolism.
Lost Highway (1997)
Lost Highway is more worried about making the viewers as disoriented as the characters in the film than resorting to non-stop weirdness. Not to say that there's no creepy stuff in the movie, in fact, some scenes are charged with imagery that will haunt viewers for a long time, but Lost Highway inserts the insanity of its plot in a linear narrative for most of the time.
Before past and present start colliding, the story is quite easy to follow but extremely difficult to understand. Viewers are left without a hint of what's really going on as Fred Madison is arrested for the murder of his wife, before inexplicably transforming into Pete Dayton, a young mechanic, inside his prison cell.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
For fans of the show, Fire Walk With Me is just as weird as the majority of the episodes, especially when taking The Return into account. But looking at it with impartial eyes, this movie presents the most disturbing thematic of all David Lynch's films and is the one closest to being considered a straight-up horror story.
Without getting into spoilers, since the movie addresses a lot of what is investigated in the first two seasons of Twin Peaks, Fire Walk With Me follows Laura Palmer in the days that precede her murder, and the uncanny circumstances that led to it. Laura is Lynch's most intriguing character and the eeriness of this movie highlights that masterfully.
Inland Empire (2006)
The last feature film released by David Lynch in years, Inland Empire is an absolute nightmare. An actress starts to lose her grip on reality as she finds herself falling for a co-star on the set of unfinished Polish production, rumored to be cursed.
With an unforgettable performance by Laura Dern, this three-hour-long movie is far from making any sense at the end, but there's nothing like the experience of watching it and revisiting it. With haunting sequences, jumpscares and uncomfortable close-ups Inland Empire challenges the conventional film structure by offering a movie that lacks one.
Eraserhead (1977)
Eraserhead has everything Lynch is known for and a little more: fantastic realism, interesting-looking characters, nightmarish images, and his strangest narrative. Independently filmed by David Lynch on a micro-budget, the movie follows Henry Spencer as he deals with his suffocating industrial environment, an angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his mutant baby.
There's not a single character in Eraserhead that looks slightly grounded in reality, and the suffocating atmosphere of the movie often flirts with horror elements. As the movie progresses, fans only get further away from any reasonable explanation to what is being portrayed: a true madness masterpiece.