Brooding jazz saxophonist Fred Madison (Bill Pullman) lives in a simmering state of jealousy with his listless and possibly unfaithful wife Renee (Patricia Arquette), until an encounter at a party changes everything. Finding himself accused of murdering Renee and festering in a jail cell, all narrative logic is suddenly upended as new identities emerge, and a strange game of mystery and murder unfolds on the highways and byways of Los Angeles.
A return from the wilderness for David Lynch after the critical failure of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Lost Highway is a stunning surrealist noir that would pave the way for Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire, birthing the more radically expressionist style of David Lynch’s late career, with its focus on split identities, the unconscious, the history of cinema, and the city of Los Angeles itself.
Featuring an evocatively mysterious soundtrack, iconic performances from Pullman and Arquette, and a singular vision that brings multiple realities crashing into one another, Lost Highway is one of David Lynch’s greatest achievements.