After years of experimenting with digital shorts on his groundbreaking website davidlynch.com, David Lynch returned to the big screen with this epic and nightmarish vision of Hollywood's sinister subconscious which serves as both a twisted sister-film to his acclaimed Mulholland Dr. and a singular and troubling masterpiece in its own right.

 

Due to its murky, lo-fi digital photography and confounding labyrinthine structure INLAND EMPIRE was largely ignored and misunderstood upon its original release in 2006, but has since gone on to amass a loyal cult fanbase and gain a critical reappraisal due to Laura Dern's fierce and fearless central performance and the uncompromising nature of Lynch's vision.

 

INLAND EMPIRE would prove to be Lynch's final film released theatrically in his lifetime and is a fitting closing chapter to a career built of challenging and unforgettable cinematic experiences. Many of its aesthetic and psychological ideas would be explored with greater depth and experimentation in Lynch's true swansong, Twin Peaks: The Return but INLAND EMPIRE remains one of his most rewarding and insidious mysteries. Don't pass up this rare chance to experience and puzzle it over with a crowd!