Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival 15 years ago today, Mulholland Dr. rightfully earned David Lynch a Best Director award at the festival. We recently praised it as one of the best films about Hollywood, following Betty (Naomi Watts), the cheerfully plucky protagonist who arrives in town hoping for a career in movies but instead finds herself embroiled in a darkly surreal mystery.
To celebrate the anniversary of its premiere, today we have a great video essay from The Nerd Writer that explores how Lynch manipulates expectations throughout the film, specifically in a few key scenes. “The definition of expectation is a strong belief that something will happen, but Lynch goes a step further,” he notes. “In one way he sets up an expectation then lures you into believing the opposite, so when the rug is pulled out, the audience is left suspended, caught out, and captured, engaging fully with the terrifying nothingness that they were warned against.”
As we await his star-studded Twin Peaks next year, check out the video essay below and the full 2001 Cannes press conference for Mulholland Dr.:
Mulholland Dr. is available on Blu-ray through The Criterion Collection.