David Lynch directed one of the biggest leaps in film history

I was born into a David Lynch world, and in a way I mean that literally. I was born and raised in Philadelphia, the metropolis where Lynch lived and worked, and felt inspired by local artists and the patina and grunge of the city. While my mother was still recovering in the hospital after giving birth to me, she watched an episode of Twin Peaks where— spoiler alerttime? — Leland Palmer (Ray Weiss) stuffs Maddie Ferguson's (Sheryl Lee) corpse into a golf bag, horrifying all the nurses who came into the room at inopportune moments. (DVR and on-demand didn't exist then, as she reminded me since 1990; she was to watch when it aired!) All of which means that over the past 30 years, I've grown up in a world where Lynch — the director and visionary who passed away on January 16, 2025 — has always been part of the conversation.

Which perhaps makes it all the more surprising that I first watched Mulholland Drive when I was only 30, fulfilling a New Year's resolution by pulling cards from Cinephile deck and watching a movie with an actor on that card every week. For Naomi Watts, I chose “Mulholland Drive,” which is on the map — and shortly after movie started, I had to turn it off and come back to it two days later because the diner scene upset me so much I needed a break.

If you're not familiar, here's the gist: At the beginning of Mulholland Drive a man named Dan (Patrick Fischler) tells his dining companion that he's been having disturbing dreams…specifically about a terrifying-looking man lurking behind Winkie's Diner. This is exactly what this terrifying looking person is behind the canteen at that very momentat which point Dan collapses and I almost do too. This is the best surprise in movie history, and we can thank Lynch for blowing us all away. Now that Lynch is no longer with us, the world will be less strange in the future.

No one but David Lynch knows true the meaning of the humanoid being behind Winkie's Diner – People have offered interpretations over time, saying that it represents the dark subconscious of Diana Selwyn (Naomi Watts) and her eventual breakdown in the film, but actor Bonnie Aarons, who portrayed the strange mud. – the monster, told vulture In 2014, filming a scene was almost as difficult as watching it. Aaron apparently met Lynch at a Twin Peaks screening party, and her stunning green eyes caught his eye — much like when Frank Silva's unsettling looks led Lynch to cast Twin Peaks as the series' Big Bad, BOB. “- at which point he asked Aaron to play a figure from Dan's nightmares.

When asked if she received any specific information about her character, Aaron told interviewer Kenny Herzog that no one told her anything in particular before filming, before slapping a bunch of real moss on her body (while, per Lynch's instructions, making sure her eyes were clearly visible ). Aaron also said that when filming the shot used in the movie, she was looking directly at Lynch himself, giving the scene something extra special … and revealed that she didn't know how long the moment would actually be. “When I saw the movie with the cast and crew, I really scared myself,” Aaron admitted. “The stories I've heard are so cruel.”

So Lynch told her what was the character thinking? No. “He says, 'Not yet,'” Aaron told Herzog when asked if Lynch ever revealed what he thought the character was thinking. “He tells me, 'Everything.' But he wouldn't tell me.” Classic Lynch.

I'll be honest. I find quite a few everyone “Mulholland Ride” – a movie that a guy in one of my college film classes once called “Dr. Mulholland” after he catastrophically misread the “Dr.” in the title – to be disturbing at best and scary at worst, which is exactly why I love it. The film challenges me every time I try to put it on again, and I know I'm not alone, do a cursory YouTube search and you'll find a a ton long, intense video essays that break down the various scenes, motifs, and meanings found in the film. (Regarding the Winkie scene, Spikim movies is a particularly great distribution on the platform.)

As a quick refresher, aside from Dan and his diner monster, Mulholland Drive focuses on a woman named Betty (Naomi Watts). who arrives in Los Angeles with big dreams of becoming an actor only to encounter amnesiac Rita (Laura Haring), who has recently survived a catastrophic car accident on Los Angeles' famous Mulholland Drive. The two women then experience a change of identity during the film, when Watts' Diana Selwyn wakes up in the apartment she lived in “as Betty” — after opening a mysterious blue box — and meets “Rita” again as rival actor Camilla Rhoda. , and by the time the two head to Club Silencio together, you'll probably feel it indeed confused (unless David Lynch himself once somehow told you what it all really meant). It's not bad. Great art inspires questions and inquiry, and “Mulholland Drive” is a masterpiece specifically because it's weird, creepy and disturbing. The world may have lost Lynch, but his work will live on and stir people forever.

Mulholland Drive is available to rent or buy on major streaming platforms.