Lost Highway (1997)
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A man's life is upended by mysterious tapes and a sudden transformation after a tragic arrest.
The story
Saxophonist Fred Madison receives a cryptic message on his intercom in the Hollywood Hills, followed by the arrival of mysterious VHS tapes showing footage of his home. After a series of unsettling encounters, including a strange man at a party who claims to be at Fred's house, the situation escalates. When a final tape shows Fred standing over his wife's body, he is arrested and sentenced to death. However, while on death row, Fred undergoes a mysterious transformation, and he is replaced by Pete, a young man who begins a different life, unaware of the man who preceded him.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After being replaced by Pete Dayton on death row, Pete begins a new life as an auto mechanic. He meets a man named Mr. Eddy (who is actually Dick Laurent) and eventually begins an affair with Mr. Eddy's mistress, Alice Wakefield. The narrative takes a surreal turn as Pete's reality begins to fracture. After a series of events, including a confrontation with a man named Andy and a journey to a desert cabin, Pete undergoes a transformation back into Fred. Fred then finds the 'Mystery Man' and eventually confronts Dick Laurent at the Lost Highway Hotel. In a violent climax, Fred kills Dick and eventually flees into the desert as the scene dissolves into a darkened highway.
- First release year
- 1997
- Runtime (minutes)
- 134
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- David Lynch
- Writers
- David Lynch · writer; Barry Gifford · writer
- Cast and characters
- Bill Pullman · Fred; Patricia Arquette · Renee and Alice; Balthazar Getty · Pete; Robert Blake · The Mystery Man; Robert Loggia · Mr. Eddy and Dick
- Genres
- surrealist neo-noir horror; psychological thriller
- Themes
- identity; memory distortion; male anxiety
- Tone and mood
- surreal; dark; noir
- Premise and plot tags
- neo-noir; horror; mystery; psychological thriller
- Content notes
- violence
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews upon release, with critics initially dismissing it as incoherent; however, it has since been reappraised as a cult classic with significant scholarly interest.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 70% · scale: percentage · review count: 63; Metacritic · score: 53 · scale: 100 · review count: 21
- Awards and nominations
- Worst Picture · Stinkers Bad Movie Awards · 1997 · nomination; Worst Director · Stinkers Bad Movie Awards · 1997 · nomination; Grand Prix · Belgian Film Critics Association · 1998 · nomination
- Production trivia
- The film was adapted into an opera in 2003.; It was the first of three Lynch films set in Los Angeles.; The film served as an inspiration for the video game Silent Hill 2.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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