I'VE BEEN LYNCHED! - Bad, inevitable joke, but also fitting. One has to trust Mr. Lynch to sit through a film like this. What does one do with the grotesque in this film, as in his others? How about the evil, the innate self-destructiveness and pathetic cluelessness of mankind? There is no such thing as a happy ending in a Lynch film, despite appearances to the contrary. We're put through an intriguing, in your face nightmare. What does one do? Oddly enough it is possible to enjoy it. As a fan of Alain Resnais films, which are typically cryptic and challenging, I consider David Lynch to be the next generation of his school transplanted and grown in America. Inland Empire is so buried in the current American psyche it is startling. It digs right down to its twisted and self-strangling roots. Our culture is incomprehensibly bizarre. Inland Empire reflects that and leads you to feel like a victim of our own country's behavior. It's the undercurrent spirit of the age, increasingly so as time continues past the release date of the film. Then there are the parallels of the film inside the film inside the mind of the lead character that take place in Poland. Surprise America. Mankind has been there and done that before elsewhere in the world. How do humans entertain themselves? Persistently. Perennially. We don't just invent 'American' dreams. We consistently insist upon inventing dark games of deceit, sex and intrigue. Like it or not, we all make Lynch films of our lives. And we find it entertaining in the moment of each moment's birth. What are we? Why are we so dark? Why has mankind alone invented evil? With a bit of cinematic magic and flash, David Lynch dares put us through a hall of mirrors in an attempt to find out. The challenge: find the thread of sanity that holds us together. To Lynch fans, surviving the journey is worth the knowledge of understanding. Can we learn from our mistakes? Can we grow?… Expand

I consider myself a HUGE Lynch fan, with the Twin Peaks film/series, Mulholland Drive, and Wild at Heart being among my faves of all time. I'm sorry to say that Inland Empire, while visually and aurally stunning, is just wholly unacceptable. At the LA Film Festival, none of the actors involved could explain to the audience what actually happens in the film. Lynch himself explained that he filmed a single scene with no story in mind, a couple of weeks later, he filmed another scene - completely unrelated to the first. Eventually, after following this organic process, a film developed out of this tapestry and Inland Empire was the result. I'm paraphrasing here, of course, but at about 3 hours, sitting through this sucker was BRUTAL. And it pains me to say so. Laura Dern is amazing in this film. Ideas here and there are provocative. But as a whole, it's unacceptable. Non-linear? Yeah. If nobody involved with the film can tell you what the film is about or what happens in the film, you've got problems. One day, I wish Lynch would go back to telling stories, where at least 80% of the film is comprehensible and maybe 20% is "Lynchian" or odd - a la the Black Lodge in Twin Peaks, etc. But this one is about 10% comprehensible, and the rest is just nice to look at and listen to. Please, David, come back to us... I can see you in there, but you're too far away at the moment.… Expand

Sure he's brilliant and even his crap is a lot better than many people's finest efforts. Some incredibly compelling scenes, totally exquisite at moments, but just not enough effort to frigging communicate and leaves the audience to do too much of the work. That's what the director is for and all the gee whiz visual effects don't cover it up. Maddening in a way, because he has proven what a terrific albeit non-narrative story teller he can be when he wants to be. But this one, however intermittenly entertaining, doesn't offer enough to justify the effort of watching it.… Expand

This is a befuddling mess of a movie. Just like other great directors, there does seem to come a time when an artist has only sycophants to guide him/her. I have followed Lynch down many a dark alley of his mind, but this just leads nowhere.

Film critics are like flies in jello when it comes to films like this one. They should stick to BLADE II or FAST AND THE FURIOUS or THE LAKEHOUSE, things that can compare to daytime television. This is one of those films you have to commit to, as it's long and distinct. Get a good nap before, and bring a sack lunch, take the next day off. This movie will be stuck in your head for a bit, and when it finally hits you, you'll smile. It's beautiful.… Expand

Wow!! I did not want to leave that world he has created in this "film" See it with an open mind and do not put to much into understanding everything in your first viewing. It took me about 2 or 3 times before I started to catch on.

Strange, beautiful, mezmerizing, menacing, brave. Art.

I love David Lynch. I am a follower of Lynch. But Inland Empire was 3 hours of abysmal film. It was plotless, it was uninspired, and it made no sense. This movie has officially become the worst movie of all time in my books. Shame on Lynch for directing and Dern for producing this movie.

Inland Empire is strictly for David Lynch fans and lovers of Art House movies. This movie is not for the casual 'noir' fan who will most definitely lose interest because of the non linear plotline and the nearly three hour running time. Patrons will benefit from watching this movie with friends who are willing to discuss and argue about the 'plot' and meaning of Inland Empire. Seen alone, this movie will most certainly leave some lost and asking too many questions. I personally left this movie confused and disappointed, but after some research and finding some 'explaination' of the movie on the internet I felt better about the movie and the story that Lynch was trying to tell, albeit in an overly abstract manner. Overall, a movie going experience fans of abstract noir should not miss.… Expand

Interesting that so many of these reviews couldn't locate the Inland Empire geographically. For the record, the Inland Empire (aka, the 909) consists of the heavily congested, smog-choked working-class suburbs of western San Bernardino and Riverside counties. I don't think this makes the film any clearer, but there it is. That said, this movie is incredible. The 1 rule of Lynch's films is that repeated viewing is essential; understanding how all the images fit together requires a real feeling for the scenes. With all of Lynch's previous work, I've found that the stories make a degree of sense, and contain fascinating insights, but many of the links required to realize this are intuitive rather than logical; they "sink in". I have no doubt that this will happen once I've seen "Inland Empire" a few more times. Ultimately Lynch is a great artist and makes very few films; if you're trying to decide whether to see this film, imagine what you would do if van Gogh was exhibiting new paintings in your hometown; they might not be his greatest work, and you might not grasp their meaning on the 1st pass, but you would still want to see van Gogh's newest work for yourself.… Expand

OK - this is it ladies and gents - a three hour actors' workshop - very good scenes but I Am a David Lynch fan and was sorely disappointed that there was absolutely No Payoff At All on this film - for the first time, in my humble opinion - Just because someone's done it in the past, doesn't mean everything they do is "brilliant" - This was simply a bucketful lot of slap-dash with no continuity Or Relevance. But still, if you're a fan, you can't leave, sort of like one of those famous potato chips, though not as salty. Save your money for the DVD - it's certainly not something you need to see all in one seating.… Expand

Inland Empire is a masterwork--in Lynch's ouvre it ranks up there with Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive, and it may be the best film of '06. It is certainly the most challenging and experimental film to be released by an American director in quite some time. Go elsewhere if you need popcorn entertainment; but if you want to be taken on a thrilling ride into the mad, terrifying corridors of consciousness, this bit of pure cinema is for you.… Expand

One of the few entirely unique experiences I've had at the movies, but also distinctly Lynchian. There is no way to summarize the plot of this movie, nor is that the way it was apparantly intended to be absorbed. The sheer dread, paranoia, irony, sadness, satire, and triumph are felt rather than observed. The movie hits you hard in the same place in your mind that is brutally affected by a nightmare which, upon waking, is impossible to explain in it's full impact.… Expand

Unlike Harmony Korine or Crispin Glover, Lynch doesn't have to rely on exploiting mentally handicapped people in order to convey his message to the silver screen. Where Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive let me down, Inland Empire proves a true return to form for the best director alive today.

I rarely go to a movie that I feel was a total waste of money, but this one certainly was. I boldly sat through the entire unstructured mess, even though a good 1/3 of the audience had trickled out by the end. I've liked all of Lynch's films except for Eraserhead, but this fiasco even made Eraserhead look good. Come on, Mr. Lynch, you can do better! Please make some movies with the audience in mind, not just to put your fantasies on celluloid. After all, you are expecting us to PAY to go see your work. It seems to me you've let success go to your head.… Expand

Great acting, great vision, great cinamatogrophy. 1 hour less and a fusion of the ideas would have made this into an all time best, but Lynch is just playing with his audience - pretentious artistic faeces. No theme -maybe East Europe white slavery brought to US, drugged up hooker believing in her mind that she is a famous actress, but no -real shame and a waste of time.

Three hours of relentlessly intense ugly digital footage, so icomprehensively incoherent and art installation-esqe that its just completely (and doubtlessly intentionally) unaccessible on any level. The most agrivating thing is that its so reminiscent of art installation work thats already out there it doesnt even have that element of originality that could make it exciting. The continually fluctuating fragments of messy editing, dialogue that might as well been spoken in Elvish it has so little relevence to the rest of the film and delivery similar to the average pullchord bandai toy, make this absolute torture to sit through. It is the embodinment of pretension and an obnoxiously self obsessive venture on Lynch's part, showing that his name is not only a license to print money, but also to actively abuse celluloid.… Expand

Not being a fan of the digital video medium i went to see this film with trepidation as i am a fan of Lynch's visual aesthetics and thought the medium wouldn't do justice to his vision. However David Lynch did a great job but too many scenes looked like student art installations. The film was too long and i think too similar to the labyrinthine plots served up in Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway that the impact was lost. It seemed like a parody of a David Lynch movie and i think he would be well advised to try a different genre and a more linear narrative in his next feature. Tarantino has shown in Pulp Fiction you can mess with narrative and make a film that makes sense and be non-linear. I would like to watch it on DVD whilst stoned although i wouldn't say this is a positive thing. It is reminiscent of having a bad dream and my memories of the film feel like i have dreamt them. Whether this makes for a good movie i am not sure but it is a unique experience. You will love or loathe this movie and that's the point , it isn't mainstream and doesn't want to be. It knows its audience and the audience will search for it fed up of sanitised money-making Hollywood blockbusters.… Expand

This film was built to split audiences... and expectations... and psyches. For those well-versed in the "mobius strip" structure Lynch has slowly been refining since his underrated LOST HIGHWAY, this film will be a Godsend. For everyone else, I would simply ask that you give it a fair shot, minus any expectations you might have for a normal three-act narrative. Just let the jaw-droppingly visceral lead performance by Laura Dern be your emotional anchor through this cryptic film's dark and troubling waters. Don't worry... she'll carry you safely to the other side. BEST FILM OF 2006... period.… Expand

A gorgeous and poignant film. i am enthralled yet again.....

I saw this at the AFI fest and I haven't stopped thinking about it since. Yes, it's frustrating and confusing, but I can't remember ever being so completely engrossed in a 3-hour movie before. It is exhilarating and astonishing to see something so formless, so subconscious. Oh, and Laura Dern is incredible. Her "monologue" might be the greatest moment in film for 2006. (Oh, and one more thing -- I think David Edelstein's review is misrepresented above -- I found it to be quite positive actually).… Expand

'INLAND EMPIRE' is difficult yes. Challenging yes. Brilliant filmmaking, absolutely. Lynch's most daringly experimental feature will be maddening to some (witness the wildly mixed reviews) and endlessly fascinating to die hard cineastes. Multiple viewings are a neccessity. This film will be discussed, argued about and debated for years to come. Like all great films. The best film of 2006, no contest.… Expand

I've loved everything that David Lynch has done from Eraserhead to Mullholland drive. Having said that I have no reservation in saying that this is the WORST film I have ever seen from a known director. I believe that Mr. Lynch intentionally set out to show us all that he can do whatever he wishes with absolutely no regard for his fans or audiences in general. He made his point.

This is the type of movie that is impossible to give a perfect score review to, w/o sounding like a pretentious, art snob elitist. Simply because, this movie is so avant-garde, and so different from 99% of other independent movies, not to mention all the mainstream movies we all watch, that you can't compare it to much, except Lynch's own body of work. INLAND EMPIRE at a superficial level, could be called "Mulholland Drive" gone all "Eraserhead" with no "Twin Peaks". But really, it's just David Lynch's first full on subconscious trek of imagination, since Eraserhead. Just pure creativity, instead of setting up a linear story, lynch's "Picasso-esque" style, of throwing fragment of plot lines around, and then distorting their shape and importance later, gives EMPIRE an ability to impact the engrossed viewer, has honest to God, NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE! This movie is not LIKE a dream, it IS a dream. You leave the theatre confused as to what you saw and felt, as much as you try to hold on to the pure magic of those moments, that came like a surprise birthday party, out of the blue. I do not think David Lynch is the greatest film maker around or anything like that, but I do think he's ONE of the greatest around. However, I think his skill and the type of wild movies he makes are not totally interconnected. To me, Lynch JUST HAPPENS to make avant-garde films, like Aphex Twin just happens to make electronic music. In a parallel timeline, Lynch might be making some of the best Spielberg type movies around, and Micheal Bay makes really pretentious art films that ONLY snobs like (isn't that what Transformers is anyway? one big blur of color?). Anyway, seeing this movie in theaters was absolutely magical for me and the 2 friends i saw it with. I hope you have a similar experience.… Expand

A haunting and beautiful epic. Dern is INCREDIBLE!

The point isn't whether David Lynch is an artistic genius. Who can say? This is why I give the film a middling 5. The point is that this film was falsely advertised. To label it as "Drama", as it was at my cinema and also on this website (Mystery/Drama) is simply an incorrect classification. "Experimental" or "Avant garde" is proper. This way, people who fork over the money to see the film know what they are getting. So many of the user reviews (mine being one) are because we had the wrong expectation before seeing the film. Like Twin Peaks and Lynch's last several movies, I thought this one would have some semblance of plot and at least identifiable story characters--these are fundamental features of the "drama" genre (and most others, for that matter). This film had neither. It's fine for critics to tell people they should sit back and just "experience" the potpourri of visuals and weird emotions this movie provides, but that's hardly what most viewers expect to do when they pick out a movie to go see which is classified as "Drama." This is deception on the part of producers and distributors, which I suspect is rooted in greed, wanting to suck a wider audience than appropriate into the theatres. That was shortsighted on their part. This film should have been titled: Inland Empire: an Experimental Film by David Lynch. The user reviews would have been much higher and everyone would be a lot happier who chose to spend the money to see it.… Expand

Planteada como un torbellino de sensaciones con lógica o sin ella, Inland Empire prolonga la fascinante parte final de Mulholland Drive, explicando pues cosas soñadas, ansiadas o vividas y requiriendo siempre del espectador que se deje llevar más allá del razonamiento lógico. Lynch recicla elementos de las obras que ha realizado para su web (www.davidlynch.com) a lo largo de los cinco últimos años, caso de las escenas de la surreal sitcom protagonizada por humanos con cabeza de conejo (de la serie Rabbits) o la misteriosa palabra Axxonn cuya lectura inicia el viaje fantasioso: Axxonn es el título de otra serie internáutico-lynchiana. En unos tiempos de replanteamiento del relato y la textura visual (la película ha sido rodada en vídeo digital, pero no de alta definición), Lynch sigue siendo un cineasta imprescindible aunque se sepa minoritario.… Expand

I will give it a 1 just because I have really enjoyed his past work, and I just *love* anything with rabbits after Donnie Darko. However, this movie is total crap, hands down. Anyone giving this a high rating is too caught up in the "art" of it all to just plain admit that it is boring, incomprehensible, and just feels like Lynch stroking himself from the first hour mark on. So you walk into an art museum, and an artist has thrown multiple colors of paint all over a canvas and called it "art". Guess what? That's called being lazy, and Lynch has done exactly that, only it feels like he's actually trying *harder* to convince us of something. Sorry, dude - stick with Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive, where at least there's *some* sort of story.… Expand

Similar to his existing discography (sans Dune), INLAND EMPIRE will stand the test of time and be the standard litmus test to all (non studio) cinema in a few decades (or less)....True, wait and see.

This film has no traditional story arc, but it is not boring. You may not walk out of the theater pleased that [***SPOILER***]Commander Bond has saved the world one more time, but you will not be bored. Quote for ad media, "Inland Empire is the Citizen Kane of Polish-American rabbit suit movies".

Friend of mine, who sat next to me while watching the movie, has said afterwards: you need a degree in Psychology to understand what was going on there". Well, I have one, and it helps a lot to solve the riddle: indeed, It is a hard and outstanding movie, as hard and outstanding as an invasive voyage through the open darkness of the Great Ocean of the Mind, where The Conscious, The Subconsious and The Unconscious, unprecedently mixed together, ought to be. Great piece of Art.… Expand

A film for film lovers - art at its most innovative.

Lynch's Inland Empire is a piece of abstract art, leading to the interpretation of the viewer, it has its own sense of being or essence, and that is the beauty of such a piece. Bravo!

Dont try to understand it all. It is not really a riddle to be solved. As life stands full of mysteries, this movie does in the end as well. And yet you can enjoy the ride.

Big deception! David Lynch must think that after great movies we can see anything he films, he's wrong. This movie make me remember that time is too precious to waste it.

Film as art. If you can get past the need for the traditional narrative structure and just soak up the imagery and atmosphere you will find this is three hours rewardingly spent.

Well! I love movies, and I was whiling to watch the whole movie... But this one.... was just the worst movie ever. I love confusing movies that shows you something interesting, but this one was terrible and it seemed like someone just filmed a bunch of different scenes and put them all in different order. The actors were good, but the movie wasn't good.

I thoroughly appreciate the fact that Lynch has experimented with this film in a way he hasn't done with any other. However, it is extremely private and the viewer is lucky to understand anything (if at all). Lynch admitted to having no script and instead handing over to each actor several pages of dialogue each day. Ultimately, the movies spirals down into an endless abyss of meaninglessness, and drowns in self-preservation. Work of art:yes, avant-garde:yes; but unless you are a hardcore Lynch fan , or love abstract art this movie is definitely not worth a watch. You will be left alienated, and would have rather spent them staring at a blank wall.… Expand

I am so sick of these old fogeys criticizing Digital Video- it's such a completely worthless thing to say. DV totally serves this story. People saying David needs to make sense? Hahahahah... go watch Dreamgirls if you don't want to THINK. If you can sit through 3 hours of Return of the King you can certainly enter an even trippier fantasy a la Lynch. Thank god there is David Lynch.

I'm the biggest fan of David Lynch. I have seen Mulholland Drive 5 times, Lost Highway and Blue Velvet twice each, and relished Twin Peaks, The Elephant Man and Wild at Heart. But as much as I wanted to, I didn't go for IE. I think the story is actually very simple: Laura Dern's character, despite not heeding a warning against acting in a particular movie, go ahead and does it anyway and falls in love with her co-star. This opens the pathway into two alternate universes: (i) a white trash equivalent of Laura Dern's character, and (ii) a Polish mirror image. Much happens, but the essential thing is that through the magic (i.e. catharsis) of cinema, a person is able to transcend humdrum problems, even murders, and Laura Dern's character learn enough from the movie to be able to connect to her white trash and Polish selves, and is eventually able to penetrate into a new world, where even bad acting (notably by bunnies, and by implication, herself) receives thunderous applause. Okay, but so what? I sat through three hours of tedium without experiencing much suspense, mystery or in fact, any emotional connection with Laura Dern's incarnations. The best thing about IE was the bunnies, and that was really stolen from a short film done a couple of years ago. I think Lynch is stuck on traveling the lost highway of Mulholland Drive, and needs to get off quick before it all turns into another sordid episode of True Hollywood Stories.… Expand

This is the future of filmmaking. What seems unfamiliar about Inland Empire will be commonplace shortly. Brilliant acting by all and, as usual, great pictures and technical craft from Lynch.

It's odd that here and elsewhere this film has inspired a thuggish "I didn't get the film so you shouldn't go see it and if you have you shouldn't like it and if you do there is something wrong with you" attitude. Besides the fact that this is a very un-American attitude, the fact of the matter is that this film really isn't all *that* much further out there than Mulholland Drive - you had advance notice, people! As for the film itself, it left me with the feeling of a disturbing dream that I didn't quite get the meaning of upon waking... in fact, it captured that feeling absolutely perfectly. I've never seen this done so well before in any film, including Eraserhead. In my book, that's a 10.… Expand

Distilled essence of Lynch in its purest form since Eraserhead. Could benefit from having about half an hour trimmed away, in my opinion. Fascinating, provocative, mystifying, uncompromising.

This is by far the worst movie I´ve ever seen and for sure the worst movie Lynch has ever made. This flick is just so trivial and weird, moving here and there, making no sense at all, not entertaining at all. I nearly turned it off after about 20 minutes, because it sucked so hard. Lynch used to make so great films, like Mulholland Drive, a masterpiece. But this time, he totally messed it up, might be due to a massive misuse of narcotics, I suppose. It took me all my manly toughness to watch this flick to the end, after 90 minutes I was just praying to the almighty father he shall show mercy to my tortured soul and let this horrible movie end at once. I would have rated it 0, but due to compassion I leave 1.… Expand

David Lynch, you have been filming the trashing, brutalising, sexualising, of the feminine for a very long time. Men came from Eastern Europe with that reality and made Hollywood. They brought the degradation of the feminine with them and it continues. You are now in a destructive loop with it. Instead of obfuscating, name the thing and stand up for it. But you can't name it or they will rape you and crucify you. Read your feminist literature and take a stand, David, before its too late. Too late for you. It would be sad to see a feminist man go down. We need your sensibility but not your obfuscation of the truth.… Expand

Maybe the worst movie I have ever seen. Some artsy types might tell you, it's a great non-naritive but, it is three hours of boring pointless hell!!

A stunning work. Stays with you. Bizarre and thought provoking like all great cinema.

I feel like you either have to give this movie a one or a ten, but I'm going with an eight because it was like nothing I have ever seen before, in a good way. The acting was incredible and if you are capable of viewing it not as a movie but more as an experience, you will get a lot out of it. There is no relief, but within that lack of relief you understand what Lynch is trying to do. He has total control over everything in the movie and he made something incredibly pure. If you are at all interested in the history of film, or art, then you should see this movie. If you liked Fast and the Furious, then you should definitely skip this one.… Expand

The best Lynch's movie. I'm afraid he would never be able to make something better than INLAND EMPIRE

I'm a Lynch fan who almost walked out on this one at the theater. It's so overly self-indulgent & purposefully annoying. There's some wonderful Lynch moments, but as a whole piece it's certainly one of his weakest efforts.

Extremely long and tedious mind-teasing mess. It lacks the compelling cohesive narrative of Lynch's previous films Mulholland Dr. or Lost Highway, whose themes also dealt with a fragmented psyche and experiencing a nightmarish alternative realities. Although Lynch is successful at presenting a dream state-like world, the film's overindulgence and pretentiousness result in a confusing bore. Previous Lynchean themes are all there: evil entities (Twin Peaks), enslaved women (Blue Velvet), alternative realities and stream of consciousness, weird characters and symbolic situations, but this time they do not capture our imagination. Shots of dilapidated buildings in the Polish winter or bare and dark Hollywood sets where an overacting Laura Dern get lost in the dark become interminable and meaningless. Close ups of faces in distress and histrionics are not elements of good filmmaking. I had to resist my urges to fall sleep! If you want to waste 3 hours of your time, watch it at your own risk.… Expand

PLOTLESS!!!! Are you joking? Are you in denial? Revisit the film people. Sit down and watch the first 45 minutes. Then turn off the film and reflect. Inland Empire is one of the most brilliant expositions of infidelity that has ever been committed to the screen (be it TV or Film). Not only that, but he goes even further and implies all sorts of nasty bits with respect to the Hollywood assembly line that we know so well and love. If you can wrap your mind around this idea - the fact that a film like this is trying to bypass your tendency to rationalize and going straight for the subconscious- then you can begin to understand what's going on here. The characters for the first 45 minutes are practically speaking in code. The code is the revelation of the subconscious. And people who disagree with this are just too comfy in their own heads, with their inflated egos. POWER TO THE ID (and that's not identification papers as some of you might think), PEOPLE. The truth is in the ID.… Expand

I am completely tired of people championing David Lynch for his surreal style while requiring not ONE iota of actual sense from his movies!!!! I'm sorry, I'm still paying $10 for a film, and it is NOT FAIR to abandon narrative entirely and just expect the audience to go along, scene after inexplicable scene. We're watching a movie, not a painting. The medium REQUIRES sense!!! I'm TIRED OF THIS. I appreciate Lynch's technical skills, but at this point he has become the lunatic running the asylum. Because of his cache, people call his nonsense "genius" -- it's laughable actually. It's like "Wow, I don't get that at all... wasn't it just genius?" I could go on and on honestly... I hated this film and had to walk out after two hours. It had long since abandoned any string of possible comprehension by the audience. And then in the middle of this morass, some female characters break into a dance of "The Locomotion". PLEASE. Some people may find that funny -- I find it insulting. If I've convinced just one person not to see this film, I'll be happy.… Expand

Really deep, challenging, unpredictable, slow-moving and almost sleep-inducing, nerve-rattling at other times [my girlfriend said that she didn't remember the last time she covered her eyes at a scary film] and ultimately the most jarring thing I've seen in a long time. I'm not a complete believer in Lynch's 'so personal it's indecipherable' style shift - I still think Blue Velvet is his best work yet - but this is hard to top in terms of mood, honesty and, above all, a bizarre world that is summed up with Lynch's "GIRL IN TROUBLE" mantra. I saw him present the film and that statement is how he himself summed up the entire film. Amazing stuff.… Expand

The most nightmarish of all of his movies, like a 3 hour version of Meshes of the Afternoon. The lack of coherent narrative doesn't make it bad, but the only thing that kept me engaged with the film was fear. I appreciate the fact that he isn't repeating himself (same motifs, yes, but different way of constructing a film). Extremely unpleasant experience, and yet I'm considering seeing it again.… Expand

I'm just glad I don't live in Mitch G.'s world. The only requirement of the medium is that it have moving images, and "Inland Empire" has some of the most indelible moving images I've seen in a while.

Doze-inducing although obviously not without the occasional flash of brilliance. But it's a tough slog.

I didn't find this film inscrutable at all. While plot points, segues and time-sequences are not clear, Lynch makes it clear that these things are not necessary to convey narrative or emotion, or anything else. Lynch ultimately expands the mainstream viewer's notions of what they will accept as meaningful. He is probably the only really socially-minded director in America, on par with Haneke of Austria.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I don't know what the hell happened in this movie - if "happened" is even a useful term. People talk about Inception as a "dream" movie - but this one was a true dream. F-ed up images, unconnected nonsense. I love Lynch, but he even admitted that random, unconnected scenes came to him and he essentially "threw them in!". It was a LONG three hours.… Expand

Inland Empire is not a bad film and has some great imagery but it is almost as if Lynch is taking the piss out of himself with virtually no story lines and endless amounts of critical interpretation and chatter. Where are the moments of realism like Mulholland Drive? No story, great imagery, average acting. It can only be a 5.

There is a very definite, specific entry point into this film. The bewildering, chaotic, inscrutable personality of this misunderstood film is only a facade - a false front - concealing a remarkably lucid narrative that absolutely is David's most potent, most intense, most shattering creation. There are "clues" offered at the film's beginning as to just what is required of the viewer in order to "gain access." These clues are delivered via the curious words of the "Polish" characters who are expressing a desire, a need for us to disregard all our preconceptions of Lynch's previous work, and more importantly to adjust our awareness to a point where all the fractured, hysterical elements of the film somehow realign into a much much more coherent continuum.There's even a fairly explicit instruction on how to achieve this mental "adjustment" provided by the unusual foreign "neighbor." The "story" you then discover is astoundingly vivid and vibrant. It unfolds elegantly, magically within your mind in a most spectacularly visceral process, like the most intense 3D of the mind - ultra turbo psycho 3D. It's David's stunning singular achievement to have so thoroughly deconstructed the forms of cinema and TV and theater and web casts and static art in order to create an entirely new, original, vital art form. It's revolutionary and unequaled by any other living artist. James Joyce attempted something similar in literature, Picasso labored for something comparable in cubism, Gandhi suggested something related in politics, and Shaman for eons have operated through similar processes to affect the Consciousness. Subjective experience is a malleable, variable, fluid process that defies our attempts to contain it, to name it, to control it. So David has learned if you can't beat it, join it. And he has intimately joined with these vague and threatening forces that guide our psyches. And in order to join with, or grok, this film you must surrender to it's design. It will reward your time and efforts ten fold. It's a roller coaster ride through the vast caverns, meandering galleries, and cluttered cupboards of David's Provincial Gothic mind. It transports you to a destination that presents itself as a profoundly disturbing insight into the nature of our Western Culture, the implications and ramifications of which are staggering in their impact. David has expressed his experience of being alive through a virtual recreation of process by which he came to his insight. We are not just witnessing a description of his discovery, but seemingly actually accompanying him on his spiritual voyage. I could almost hear him whispering in my ear the entire time, "This is so intense, right?" There is a profoundly sublimely experience that awaits you, if you choose to pursue this unprecedented adventure. If you do, you will know the deepest mystery of cinema and the society that reveres it.… Expand

I will put it as simply as it has to be: If you like David Lynch movies, you will like Inland Empire. If you don't like David Lynch movies, you will hate Inland Empire. It is not Lynch's best. It is not Lynch's worst. It is simply his "Lynchiest." If you want to know what the directorial style of David Lynch is, as well as the most extreme boundaries to what a film can really be, watch Inland Empire and it will answer all your questions.… Expand