Inland Empire

Name: Inland Empire
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Fantasy
Released: December 6, 2006
Duration: 180 min
Rating: 73
Cast: Amanda Foreman, Bellina Logan, Grace Zabriskie, Ian Abercrombie, Jan Hencz

2006

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 167 Ratings

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7.4

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7.4	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 167 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

518 Media | Release Date: December 6, 2006 | R

Starring: Amanda Foreman, Bellina Logan, Grace Zabriskie, Ian Abercrombie, Jan Hencz, Karen Baird, Karolina Gruszka, Krzysztof Majchrzak, Laura Dern, Peter J. Lucas

Summary: The latest hallucinatory vision from the iconoclastic director of "Blue Velvet" and "Twin Peaks," Inland Empire stars Laura Dern in a tour-de-force performance as, perhaps, an actress who lands a dream role that quickly devolves into nightmare. [IFC Center]

Director: David Lynch

Genre(s): Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Fantasy

Rating: R

Runtime: 180 min

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Critic Reviews

100

TV Guide Magazine Ken Fox

In the end, it's best to make peace with the film's essential and deliberate inscrutability -- something Lynch fans have learned to do since Twin Peaks -- and to simply marvel at Dern's astonishing performance, which few actresses are likely to top anytime soon. Read full review

100

Don R. Lewis

While I did enjoy the ride I took with the film, after the lights came up I was just thrilled Lynch was allowed to create such a journey for us to go on. Imagine what the cinema world would be like if more great directors threw caution to the wind and followed their artistic vision. It's a world I'd like to see and I hope Lynch continues to pave the way. Read full review

It is Lynch's most experimental endeavor in the 30 years since "Eraserhead," that it will do nothing to draw new fans to the director's work and that, after two viewings, I cannot wait to see it again. Read full review

Michael Phillips

It may not look like anything he's done before, but Inland Empire joins "Mulholland" and the whatzit "Lost Highway" (1997) to form the strangest show-business triptych around. All three concern artists whose identities demand more than one body. The films give new meaning to the phrase "dual citizenship." Read full review

Shawn Levy

David Lynch's Inland Empire left me grasping for the merest crumbs of comprehension. Read full review

Ann Hornaday

If anything, it's worth watching as yet another example of Lynch's extraordinary collaboration with Dern. It may be overstating things to call her performance heroic, but it's nothing if not brave, as she dares to embody Lynch's most brutal impressions of Hollywood -- not as a dream factory, but as the place where dreams come to die. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

Inland Empire is so locked up in David Lynch's brain that it never burrows its way into ours. Read full review

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User Reviews

lucyaspe

Feb 19, 2007

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 delPlanteada 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

0 of 0 users found this helpful

MelanieP.

May 29, 2007

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!

0 of 0 users found this helpful

NeilL

Mar 24, 2009

Now that the critical dust has settled (love it or hate it, as always), this film stands out as Lynch's most complex, troubling and perverse work. For that feat alone it deserves the highest score possible. It will continue to fascinate and perplex.

5 of 5 users found this helpful

Jon

Dec 21, 2006

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.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

J-Shap

Aug 25, 2011

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 directorialI 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

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

MarcDoyle

Aug 13, 2010

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

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

MitchG.

Dec 12, 2006

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, 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

0 of 0 users found this helpful

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79	#79 Best Movie of 2006
68	#68 Most Discussed Movie of 2006