Inland Empire

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Inland Empire

R

2006

2h 59m

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

72%

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118 Reviews

75%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Nikki (Laura Dern), an actress, takes on a role in a new film, and because her husband (Peter J. Lucas) is very jealous, her co-star Devon (Justin Theroux) gets a warning not to make any romantic overtures -- especially since the characters they play are having an affair. Both actors learn that the project is a remake of an unfinished film in which the stars were murdered.

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Critics Consensus

Typical David Lynch fare: fans of the director will find Inland Empire seductive and deep. All others will consider the heady surrealism impenetrable and pointless.

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Michael Atkinson

Sight & Sound

May 13

Inland Empire appears to be a film that exists for itself and for its maker, not necessarily for us

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Richard Brody

The New Yorker

04/11/2022

Quickly devolves into self-parody. Dern gives a virtuoso performance, albeit in an overwrought, numbing void.

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Jim Emerson

RogerEbert.com

05/25/2007

4/4

Inland Empire opens and contracts in your imagination while you watch it -- and you're still watching it well after it's left the screen. It's a long but thoroughly absorbing three hours.

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Noah Berlatsky

Everything is Horrible (Substack)

01/23/2025

The movie's studied, deliberate refusal to develop interesting characters, provide a plot, or to say anything gets old after three hours.

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Joe Lipsett

Anatomy of a Scream Podcast Network

11/21/2024

3/5

Lynch's last feature is confronting, ugly and surreal, but it's also deeply personal and feels like a full circle moment that brings him back to many of the techniques he used on his first film, Eraserhead.

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Hector A. Gonzalez

Loud and Clear Reviews

03/24/2024

4.5/5

A newly remastered version of David Lynch ’s most experimental and hallucinatory work, Inland Empire – a story about a “woman in trouble”.

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Camden F

04/28/2025

I don't know what everyone's talking about, this is the most normal movie ever made

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Katy

04/04/2025

Lynch literally lost the plot. An endurance challenge, for sure.

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Brent

03/30/2025

Incredible film!!! So glad I waited to see this in theater! I mean & so many people think this film doesn’t make a lot of sense! Damn! Were they wrong David Lynch & Luara Dern are incredible! How she Didn’t even get an Oscar Nomination for this back in 2006…. I mean makes absolutely NO sense!

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Claude

05/19/2022

One of the most abstract things I've ever seen. Some remarks from a person who worked on the film: when interviewed at the Venice Film Festival, Laura Dern who is the star of the film admitted that she did not know what Inland Empire was about or the role she was playing, but hoped that seeing the film's premiere at the festival would help her "learn more". Dern also recounted a conversation she had with one of the movie's new producers, Jeremy Alter. He asked if director David Lynch was joking when he requested a one-legged woman, a monkey and a lumberjack by 3:15. By 4 p.m. they were shooting with the requested individuals.

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Vincent

05/08/2022

Very confusing but entertaining. A surreal experience

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Akatsuki M

@RT02027212 Jun 11

I'm sorry, y'all, especially Lynch, since I actually love his work, but this is just dogshit. Even though I managed to piece some things together and grasp its overall meaning, most of it just felt like an uninteresting, incoherent mess. I didn't even like the cinematography (except maybe near the end). It was too pretentious and boring. Honestly, if David's name wasn't attached to this, people would be rating it much lower, so stop lying to yourselves.

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David Lynch

Director

Laura Dern

Nikki

Jeremy Irons

Kingsley

Harry Dean Stanton

Freddie

Justin Theroux

Devon

Terryn Westbrook

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Synopsis

Nikki (Laura Dern), an actress, takes on a role in a new film, and because her husband (Peter J. Lucas) is very jealous, her co-star Devon (Justin Theroux) gets a warning not to make any romantic overtures -- especially since the characters they play are having an affair. Both actors learn that the project is a remake of an unfinished film in which the stars were murdered.

Director: David Lynch
Producer: Mary Sweeney, David Lynch
Screenwriter: David Lynch
Distributor: Absurda
Production Co: Asymmetrical Productions, Camerimage 2, Inland Empire Productions
Rating: R (Some Violence|Sexuality/Nudity|Language)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 6, 2006, Limited
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Apr 8, 2022
Release Date (DVD): Aug 14, 2007
Runtime: 2h 59m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital