Every David Lynch Film Ranked From Worst To Best

2. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

Mulholland Drive
Lynch/New Line Cinema

There is a scene in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992), the definitive reappraised film classic, in which the tragic Laura Palmer is raped by her tormentor BOB, the demonic entity who used her own father as a vessel or the father who used him as a cloak to obscure his unspeakable desires. Unlike the strangely-handled death of Leland Palmer in the TV show's second season, Lynch does not absolve but rather conflates the two entities in devastating, practically unseen fashion, mirroring the clues the town denizens withheld from themselves; through the editing brilliance of Mary Sweeney, we see in a bone-chilling flash distilling the eponymous theme of the film Leland and Laura locked in sexual embrace before Laura, at last, discovers that she is not haunted by a boogeyman but rather the man duty-bound to love and protect her innocence.

One and the same.

A devastating exploration of incestuous abuse, Lynch in the ineffably powerful Fire Walk With Me married supernatural horror with gut-wrenching pathos.

With this ring, I thee wed.

The original critical reception saw Fire Walk With Me slaughtered for betraying the woozy romance of the series, but that is the powerful essence of the prequel/sequel film: Lynch showed us the other Peak, leading us to question our own complicit, distant, spurious role in the tragedy of Laura's life.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!