Lost Highway

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Lost Highway

R

Released Feb 21, 1997

2h 15m

Mystery & Thriller

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Popcornmeter

69%

Tomatometer

62 Reviews

87%

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50,000+ Ratings

From this inventory of imagery, Lynch fashions two separate but intersecting stories, one about a jazz musician (Bill Pullman), tortured by the notion that his wife is having an affair, who suddenly finds himself accused of her murder. The other is a young mechanic (Balthazar Getty) drawn into a web of deceit by a temptress who is cheating on her gangster boyfriend. These two tales are linked by the fact that the women in both are played by the same actress (Patricia Arquette).

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Critics Consensus

Marking a further escalation in David Lynch's surrealist style, Lost Highway is a foreboding mystery that arguably leads to a dead end, although it is signposted throughout with some of the director's most haunting images yet.

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Kevin Maher

Times (UK)

Forget about vampires, zombies and the undead, this is true horror.

Rated: 5/5

Dec 16, 2024

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Richard Brody

The New Yorker

Lynch brings the movie’s febrile and violent artifice to life in visual compositions of a poised, painterly authority and interrupts them with quick bursts of hallucinatory frenzy.

Jul 5, 2022

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Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: B-

Sep 7, 2011

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Chance Solem-Pfeifer

Willamette Week

Evil flows like an invisible current through Lost Highway, one of Lynch’s feel-bad best.

Feb 12, 2025

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Noah Berlatsky

Everything is Horrible (Substack)

Lynch refuses to commit to any clear theme beyond the standard misogynist noir trope that women who have sexual autonomy are evil and maybe deserve to be murdered.

Jan 23, 2025

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Joe Lipsett

Anatomy of a Scream Podcast Network

Lynch's surreal masterpiece is infused with film noir conventions and characters, real world ties to true crime, and a fantastic dual performance by Patricia Arquette. Rarely has inky blackness ever looked so simultaneously romantic and terrifying.

Rated: 4.5/5

May 30, 2024

Full Review

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Mo V

One of the best movies ever if you have someone who explains it to you. One of the worst movies ever if you don’t.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/18/25

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Ishara L

My mind craves a narrative. It tried its best to tie everything together as logically as it could. It got somewhere that it was satisfied with. But that's not the point. When watching a David Lynch movie, one has to let go of such pillars of moviemaking. The fact that I was so confused and tried to tie everything together makes this so beautiful. But it is not a narrative, it is a journey into an experience. Of what it is like to have a mind that is whisped away into its own distortion of reality. Without it realising how erratic the experience is. How wonderfully discordant. How gorgeously unhinged. How gracefully unbalanced. I went on a journey of confusion, but didn't allow myself to ride along with it. I desperately want to see it again, now that I know what its intentions are. That next experience is going to be different than the first. I think this is my favourite thing Lynch has made (that I've seen), besides Twin Peaks.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/25

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Sergio A

In this film, David Lynch fully employs his signature symbolism, serving as a prelude to what would be further refined in Mulholland Drive. It features an excellent atmosphere, music, and story. However, I feel it could have been shorter, and perhaps the performances aren’t as remarkable as in some of the director’s other works. But undoubtedly a masterpiece.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/26/25

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Pip S

A very clever mystery film. You might get lost, but that's okay, you'll definitely enjoy it.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/24/25

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Oscar J

Deeper and less "grand publique" version of Mulholland Drive

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/01/24

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Justin T

Eraserhead (1977) - didn’t understand, didn't expect to, never expect to. Dune (1984) - understood, don’t want to again. Blue Velvet (1986) - understood, wanted to. Lost Highway (1997) - didn’t understand, wanted to. This is a good film very much in the vein of David Lynch’s other films that I have seen. It is strange and full of metaphors that aren’t meant to be understood but sometimes are. This one is better than Dune but worse than Eraserhead and Blue Velvet. It is sadly let down by the story making no sense and not being as psychologically scary as the ones I prefer. Worth watching as the first hour is very creepy and good but after that it slowly falls down. Needs a lot of thought but probably won’t help with any understanding. I should add that the story ultimately isn’t that important as the atmosphere is excellent.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

09/28/24

Full Review

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Synopsis

From this inventory of imagery, Lynch fashions two separate but intersecting stories, one about a jazz musician (Bill Pullman), tortured by the notion that his wife is having an affair, who suddenly finds himself accused of her murder. The other is a young mechanic (Balthazar Getty) drawn into a web of deceit by a temptress who is cheating on her gangster boyfriend. These two tales are linked by the fact that the women in both are played by the same actress (Patricia Arquette).

Director: David Lynch
Producer: Deepak Nayar, Tom Sternberg, Mary Sweeney
Screenwriter: David Lynch, Barry Gifford
Distributor: October Films
Production Co: October Films, Lost Highway Productions, Asymmetrical Productions
Rating: R (Strong Language|Sexual Content|Violence)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 21, 1997, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 13, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $18.0K
Runtime: 2h 15m
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Surround, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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