There’s nothing quite like a David Lynch mystery to get the old grey matter working. There’s no one quite like him in modern cinema and, despite some obvious influences and recurring themes, his reluctance to explain anything ensures the mystique endures. So many column inches have been dedicated to attempting to decode the inner meaning of his films, but in the end their intrigue is what keeps them so fresh. Lost Highway is no exception to the rule.
When Fred Madison (Bill Pullman) receives a strange message on his intercom he thinks its odd but just puts it out of his mind. However, when his wife Renee (Patricia Arquette) finds a video on their doorstep the next morning, which is just of their house, the plot thickens. When another appears showing them asleep in bed, they go to the police but they aren’t interested. Fred starts having strange visions of a Mystery Man (Robert Blake), which soon turn into nightmares.
Lost Highway revisits one of Lynch’s most recurring themes, identity, taking a thoughtful and inquisitive approach to the essence of individuality. All we can do as the audience is to try and keep up, which is a difficult feat in itself. It’s a torrid melting pot of a neo-noir, which delves into elements of science fiction amongst the crime pastiche. Lost Highway creates a vivid and infernal dreamscape which will drill its way into your psyche.
Extras:
- New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director David Lynch, with new 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- Alternate uncompressed stereo soundtrack
- Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch, a feature-length 1997 documentary by Toby Keeler featuring Lynch and his collaborators Angelo Badalamenti, Peter Deming, Barry Gifford, Mary Sweeney, and others, along with on-set footage from Lost Highway
- Reading by Lynch and critic Kristine McKenna of excerpts from their 2018 book, Room to Dream
- Archival interviews with Lynch and actors Patricia Arquette, Bill Pullman, and Robert Loggia
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: Excerpts from an interview with Lynch from the 2005 edition of filmmaker and writer Chris Rodley’s book Lynch on Lynch
Lost Highway is released on Blu-ray as part of the Criterion Collection on 31 October.
