Lost Highway (1997)
79%RT Audience Score: 87%
Awards & Nominations: 5 wins & 7 nominations
Marking a further escalation in David Lynch’s surrealist style, Lost Highway is a foreboding mystery that arguably leads to a dead end, although it is signposted throughout with some of the director’s most haunting images yet
Lost Highway is a movie that will leave you feeling like you just went on a wild ride through the mind of David Lynch. With its jarring narrative and hallucinatory frenzy, it’s not for the faint of heart. But if you’re up for a challenge, you’ll be rewarded with stunning visuals and a cast that’s as eclectic as it is talented. Just don’t expect to come out of it with all the answers – sometimes it’s better to just enjoy the ride.
Production Company(ies)
Produzioni Europee Associate, Arturo González Producciones Cinematográficas, Constantin Film
Distributor
October Films
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
7035 Senalda Road, Los Angeles, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for bizarre violent and sexual content, and for strong language
Year of Release
1997
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:2h 15m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Feb 21, 1997 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 25, 2008
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
Lost Highway, drama, 2h 15m, Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, Robert Blake, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Richard Pryor, directed by David Lynch, written by David Lynch and Barry Gifford, mystery, surrealist, haunting images, dead end, noir, horror, sexual insecurity, paranoia, schizophrenic, alternate reality, underworld purgatory, dream hallucinations, suppressed memories, femme fatales, gangster, pornography, murder, jazz musician, accused of murder, mechanic, web of deceit, temptress, Mystery Man, reviewed by Richard Brody, Owen Gleiberman, Jeremiah Kipp, James Berardinelli, Roger Ebert, Mike Clark, Andy Klein, Nicholas Bell, Stephen Silver, Jason Shawhan, Grant Watson, David Nusair, Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Surround, Dolby SR, produced by Deepak Nayar, Tom Sternberg, Mary Sweeney, $18.0K box office gross in the USA, R MPAA rating, English original language, February 21, 1997, wide theatrical release, March 25, 2008, streaming release, October Films distributor, Scope (2.35:1) aspect ratio
Worldwide gross: $3,756,869
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $6,903,713
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,077
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 752,859
US/Canada gross: $3,675,201
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $6,850,872
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,718
US/Canada opening weekend: $212,710
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $396,509
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,463
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $15,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $27,961,213
Production budget ranking: 1,184
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $15,057,113
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$36,114,613
ROI to date (est.): -84%
ROI ranking: 1,918
Patricia Arquette – Renee Madison, Alice Wakefield
Balthazar Getty – Pete Dayton
Robert Blake – Mystery Man
Natasha Gregson Wagner – Sheila
Richard Pryor – Arnie
Director – David Lynch
Producers – Deepak Nayar, Tom Sternberg, Mary Sweeney
Writers – David Lynch, Barry Gifford
Director(s)
David Lynch
Writer(s)
David Lynch, Barry Gifford
Producer(s)
Deepak Nayar, Tom Sternberg, Mary Sweeney
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
5 wins & 7 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (50) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (33) | Rotten (17)
Lynch brings the movie’s febrile and violent artifice to life in visual compositions of a poised, painterly authority and interrupts them with quick bursts of hallucinatory frenzy.
July 5, 2022
Richard Brody
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
September 7, 2011 | Rating: B-
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
It’s pensive male anxiety, and for some cultural reason it’s easier for audiences to accept female hysteria than the insecurities of men.
April 1, 2008 | Rating: 3.5/4
Jeremiah Kipp
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
January 1, 2000 | Rating: 2.5/4
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
TOP CRITIC
[Lynch] knows how to put effective images on the screen, and how to use a soundtrack to create mood, but at the end of the film, our hand closes on empty air.
January 1, 2000 | Rating: 2/4
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
Visually arresting, the movie does keep you going until the finale confirms suspicions that Lynch has painted himself into a corner.
January 1, 2000 | Rating: 2.5/4
Mike Clark
USA Today
TOP CRITIC
Behind Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet, it’s probably my favorite David Lynch film.
June 25, 2022
Andy Klein
FilmWeek (KPCC – NPR Los Angeles)
Justifiably off-putting in its simple but nonetheless jarring narrative disorientation, Lost Highway is hardly the empty, superficial exercise it was written off as.
June 24, 2022 | Rating: 4/5
Nicholas Bell
IONCINEMA.com
It looks fantastic, it has a wildly eclectic cast, and most of all, its pure, unadulterated Lynch.
March 4, 2022 | Rating: B
Stephen Silver
Tilt Magazine
Lost Highway, Lynch’s second collaboration with Wild at Heart author Barry Gifford, is all too conscious of doom nipping at your metaphorical heels. It’s a down-and-dirty Los Angeles noir that even James Ellroy would have to look at and say, “damn.”
September 10, 2021
Jason Shawhan
Nashville Scene
Senses of unease and menace are soaked into every scene. It is genuinely disturbing in places, adding up to an overall frightening experience that tops close to every horror work of its decade.
July 24, 2020 | Rating: 8/10
Grant Watson
Fiction Machine
A prototypically baffling David Lynch picture…
June 23, 2019 | Rating: 2.5/4
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews…
Plot
Fred Madison, a saxophonist, is accused under mysterious circumstances of murdering his wife Renee. On death row, he inexplicably morphs into a young man named Pete Dayton, leading a completely different life. When Pete is released, his and Fred’s paths begin to cross in a surreal, suspenseful web of intrigue, orchestrated by a shady gangster boss named Dick Laurent.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The cast of Lost Highway includes Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, Robert Blake, Natasha Gregson Wagner, and Richard Pryor.
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