“I believe life is a continuum, and that no one really dies, they just drop their physical body and we’ll all meet again, like the song says. It’s sad but it’s not devastating if you think like that… We’re all going to be fine at the end of the story.”
This is what acclaimed film director David Lynch expressed about the nature of life and death. Lynch recently passed away on January 15th, at the age of 78. Despite the shared sense of grief from film fans all around the world, this quote from him brings comfort to all those who admired him and will continue to.
David Lynch was a filmmaker originally from Montana, but spent his early years in a nomadic lifestyle, traveling between several states. He studied filmmaking at the AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles, California. During this time, he completed what would become his first feature film, Eraserhead. The abstract, surrealist film was not well received upon its release in 1977, but over time has been lauded as one of Lynch’s most celebrated works.
In the 1980s, Lynch directed a variety of films, including two adapted screenplays; The Elephant Man and Dune, and one original story – Blue Velvet, which is now widely acknowledged as one of Lynch’s quintessential works and possibly his most accessible film.
Blue Velvet stars Kyle MacLachlan as Jeffrey Beaumont and Laura Dern as Sandy Williams. Jeffrey is a college boy who returns to his hometown and discovers a severed ear in a field. This prompts him to investigate the dark underbelly of the town with Sandy, leading him to a nightclub singer, Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini), and a drug-addicted sadist (Dennis Hopper). The film serves as a perfect introduction to Lynch’s oeuvre, delving into themes the auteur explores in all his films – the darkness within small-town Americana, dreams conveying truth, and the dual nature in all of us (the sin we harbor inside also allows our light to come through). It also introduces some of his favorite collaborators, namely MacLachlan and Dern.
Though the film was controversial, it propelled Lynch into the mainstream, and soon after, he began to work on a project that changed television forever. This was the seminal Twin Peaks, a show Lynch developed with producer Mark Frost. This again starred Kyle MacLachlan as Special Agent Dale Cooper, an FBI detective sent to the Washington town of Twin Peaks to investigate the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer. The show was successful and developed a cult following but was canceled by ABC in its second season.
The original run of Twin Peaks from 1990-1991 left a palpable impact on audiences, as the show was not just a murder mystery, but an exploration of evil and love within a community. Lynch illustrated this with an unbridled sense of imagination and sensitivity – as the show delves into a supernatural world filled with red rooms in alternate dimensions, reversed language, and wicked forces. Twin Peaks is unafraid to go deeply into its weirdness and is captivating in doing so, but these elements serve to create a story about the nature of humanity, and our strife in battling the evil which exists all around us, and within us, too. Lynch created a cinematic language that was wholly unconventional but retained a powerful emotional core. The impact of Twin Peaks on television is indisputable. It ushered in the “Golden Age” of the 2000s, being one of the first American shows to progressively develop a story through long-form episodes. Creators of series such as The X-Files, The Sopranos, Lost, and Atlanta, have all credited Twin Peaks as an influence on their shows. Television began to be developed not just as entertainment, but as art to be consumed by viewers like they consumed films.
In 1992, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, was released as a prequel to the show which portrayed Laura Palmer’s last few days before her death. At the time, it was met with a series of negative reviews. It is now seen as one of Lynch’s most striking, darkest films, while still having compassion and care for its main protagonist as she experiences the worst things a human could go through.
That was the last audiences would see of Twin Peaks until its third season 25 years later – Twin Peaks: The Return, which premiered in 2017 on Showtime, and was the last of Lynch’s cinematic projects. The Return was released as an 18-part continuation of Twin Peaks and is undeniably Lynch’s full artistic vision with its disturbing and groundbreaking nature. It was praised by critics and audiences alike.
During Twin Peaks’ run in 1990, Lynch released the film Wild at Heart, followed by Fire Walk With Me in 1992, and later Lost Highway and The Straight Story in 1997 and 1999 respectively. However, his most critically acclaimed film was Mulholland Drive, which was released in 2001 starring Naomi Watts. The film follows the story of aspiring actress Betty Elms who moves to Los Angeles in search of a Hollywood fairytale, encountering Rita (Laura Harring), who is suffering from amnesia after an accident. The film sparks feelings of suspense and horror while making the audience question the blurred lines between dreams and reality, identities and fantasy. It examines the allure of Hollywood – its myth and corruption. The film earned Lynch an Academy Award nomination for Best Director.
Lynch’s last film was Inland Empire in 2006. Following this and Twin Peaks: The Return, he created short films such as What Did Jack Do?, and did a weather report series on YouTube from 2020-2022. He also portrayed director John Ford in Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical drama The Fabelmans (2022). In August of 2024, Lynch expressed on social media that he had been diagnosed with emphysema and could not leave his house but was still actively working, even though a project he was developing with Netflix had been canceled. He continued to work on several artistic projects up until his death.
After the announcement of his death, film fans took to social media to express their grief about the news, as such a unique voice in the industry had been lost. This included tributes to his many iconic works, as well as discussions about the lack of awards recognition Lynch received in comparison to his peers. The filmmaker received his only Oscar in 2019 when he was given the Honorary Academy Award.
Nonetheless, David Lynch was not just beloved as a director – his quirky personality and warm disposition endeared both his collaborators and fans. This is visible in his direct communication with fans and media, such as in his refusal to explain his films in interviews, in sometimes humorous ways. He consistently maintained the notion of the art speaking for itself, and different interpretations being fundamental to the way films are consumed. He felt explaining his intent would infringe upon these varying interpretations. He once said: “I don’t know why people expect art to make sense. They accept the fact that life doesn’t make sense.”
He was known for bringing warmth and positivity to his sets, despite many times treating dark subjects. There was no need to suffer to create art but rather collaborate and savor the experience. His beloved actors tell humorous anecdotes in which he calls them by their affectionate nicknames and gives directions or praise for their performance in strange, hilarious ways.
Laura Dern shared a story for W Magazine, in which after filming a scene for Blue Velvet, Lynch enthusiastically yelled out, “Cut! Tidbit… (Lynch’s nickname for Dern) You’ll have them bolting for the fire exits!” Lynch had different nicknames for each of his dearest actors – including Buttercup (Naomi Watts), Kale (Kyle MacLachlan), Solid Gold (Patricia Arquette), Nickster (Nicolas Cage), and Madgekin (Mädchen Amick).
Upon his death, his beloved actors, friends, and peers shared messages of love, with Kyle MacLachlan and Laura Dern writing articles about Lynch for the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times respectively. MacLachlan’s words in his Instagram post immediately following Lynch’s passing are particularly poignant.
“His love for me and mine for him came out of the cosmic fate of two people who saw the best things about themselves in each other. I will miss him more than the limits of my language can tell and my heart can bear. My world is that much fuller because I knew him and that much emptier now that he’s gone.”
In her post, Naomi Watts expressed how Lynch forever transformed her life after she had been auditioning for ten years with no luck. “Finally, I sat in front of a curious man, beaming with light, speaking words from another era, making me laugh and feel at ease. How did he even ‘see me’ when I was so well hidden, and I’d even lost sight of myself?!”
David Lynch was a singular artist who transformed the lives of many – his collaborators as well as his fans. He revolutionized the medium and showed audiences a creativity never before seen on film and television. He created surrealist, supernatural, and neo-noir art that was not afraid to be confusing, bizarre, or disturbing, yet resonated with people’s emotions like no other works in those genres.
Still, the most wonderful thing about Lynch is not his genius, but how he led life with kindness and warmth. To him, art was not torture or anguish, no matter how much his films portrayed these feelings, but love and curiosity – the taste of a cherry pie or a good cup of coffee. For this, he will not just be admired but loved and remembered as one of the greats.
