Lost Highway

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Lost Highway

R

Released Feb 21, 1997

2h 15m

Mystery & Thriller

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Popcornmeter

70%

Tomatometer

63 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

The 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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Jeremiah Kipp

Slant Magazine

It's pensive male anxiety, and for some cultural reason it's easier for audiences to accept female hysteria than the insecurities of men.

Rated: 3.5/4

Apr 1, 2008

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Patrick Cavanaugh

The Wolfman Cometh

Possibly David Lynch's best blend of a cohesive narrative mixed with otherworldly elements.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 12, 2025

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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

Full Review

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Jonny

amazing. chilling and artful. beautiful

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/23/25

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Jadan S

This film was the closest experience I've had that was akin to experiencing a dream while fully awake. Make no mistake, you will be lost while watching this. But it is 100% worth the journey.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/22/25

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Peter

I don't know how to rate it. I hated it and loved it at the same.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/22/25

Full Review

G M

A compelling masterpiece of our deepest, darkest thoughts. Don't expect a satisfactory conclusion as in a traditional movie. It's whatever you want to make of it. See Lynch's beautiful film, 'The Straight Story' for a more emotionally 'grounded' level of story telling.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/14/25

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Carson S.

Honestly I hated it. It made no sense. I had no idea what was even going on most of the time. I liked Eraserhead even though it made less sense than this movie. I’ve tried rewatching it a few time but I just can’t get into it. I saw the film in a theater originally. When the film ended it was very abrupt and I looked at the guy sitting next to me and he said,” What the heck did I just see.” I shrugged my shoulders and said I have no idea.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

09/11/25

Full Review

Hao Ian L

Lynch crafted something so surreal it spawned theories that are arguably equally mind-bending as the film itself, with possibly some of his best and most haunting imagery ever, though it does sometimes rely a bit too much on said imagery to do some of the heavy lifting.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/31/25

Full Review

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David Lynch

Director

Bill Pullman

Fred Madison

Patricia Arquette

Renee Madison

Balthazar Getty

Pete Dayton

Robert Blake

Mystery Man

Natasha Gregson Wagner

Sheila

Lost Highway: Official Clip - Kidnapping Dick Laurent

2:05

Lost Highway: Official Clip - The Video Tape And A Murder

3:27

Lost Highway: Official Clip - I'm Inside Your House

2:30

Lost Highway: Official Clip - Don't EVER Tailgate

3:05

Lost Highway: Official Clip - Maybe We Should Skip Dinner

2:15

Lost Highway: Official Clip - Dick Laurent Is Dead

1:39

Lost Highway: Official Clip - Fred's CREEPY Dream

1:53

Lost Highway: Official Clip - Alice (Patricia Arquette) Strips at Gunpoint

2:22

Lost Highway: Official Clip - He Became Another Person?

4:28

Lost Highway: Official Clip - The Mystery Man Kills Dick Laurent

1:16

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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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