Lost Highway

Lost Highway is a 1997 surrealist neo-noir horror film directed by David Lynch, who co-wrote the screenplay with Barry Gifford. It stars Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, and Balthazar Getty. The film also features Robert Blake, Jack Nance, and Richard Pryor in their final film performances. The narrative follows a musician (Pullman) who begins receiving unmarked videotapes of his home before he is abruptly convicted of murdering his wife (Arquette). While imprisoned, he mysteriously disappears and is replaced by a young mechanic (Getty) leading a different life. Financed by French production company Ciby 2000 and Lynch's own Asymmetrical Productions, the film was largely shot in Los Angeles, where Lynch collaborated with frequent producer Mary Sweeney and cinematographer Peter Deming. The film's surreal narrative structure has been likened to a Möbius strip, while Lynch has described it as a "psychogenic fugue" rather than a conventionally logical story. The film's soundtrack was produced by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, featuring an original score by Angelo Badalamenti and Barry Adamson as well as contributions from Nine Inch Nails, David Bowie, Marilyn Manson, Rammstein, and the Smashing Pumpkins. Upon release, Lost Highway received mixed reviews and grossed $3.7 million in North America after a modest three-week run. Most critics initially dismissed the film as incoherent; it has since garnered a cult following and scholarly interest. It is the first of three Lynch films set in Los Angeles, followed by Mulholland Drive (2001) and his final film Inland Empire (2006). The film was adapted into an opera by Austrian composer Olga Neuwirth in 2003.