Visionary American filmmaker David Lynch made some of the finest surrealist movies ever in the history of cinema, some of which are among the highest-rated movies of all time.
In a career lasting about six decades till his death on 15 January 2025, Lynch produced a range of feature-length films, short films and TV shows known for exploring and experimenting with human psychology through dreamlike, sometimes unsettling worlds on the canvas.
Almost all of Lynch’s movies blur the boundaries between reality and dark fantasy. There is almost always an interplay of light and dark in his works, serving as metaphors for what his characters faced in the stories. Some of his films, especially the earlier ones, also have imagery which is seen as disturbing to the viewers. His style possibly had something to do with his background as a painter before he transitioned to making short films in the late 1960s.
Lynch was not a filmmaker for the franchise-loving masses but for a thinking, elite audience. His works, though many were not critically well-received at the time of their release, were regulars at prestigious film festivals. Yet Lynch gave a new dimension to storytelling with complex plots, abstract sequences and immersive sounds — all of which together delivered an indelible impact on the innate human subconsciousness of the viewers.
In his long and distinguished career, Lynch directed 10 movies. He wrote the screenplay of all but one, The Straight Story (1999), and was also involved with the sound design of six of them.
In the eyes of most critics, the best movies by Lynch are his debut movie Eraserhead (1977), his second film The Elephant Man (1980) and his penultimate film Mulholland Drive (2001). The others, too, are widely appreciated today. But apart from his movies, Lynch was also widely popular for the primarily horror yet mystery story Twin Peaks (1990–1991) and its sequel Twin Peaks: The Return (2017), both of which were nominated for multiple Primetime Emmys.
Lynch’s personal achievements during his life, include four competitive Academy Award nominations and an honorary Oscar in 2019.
All of the highest-rated David Lynch movies, ranked by IMDb ratings
Note: Movies are arranged from lowest- to highest-rated. Rotten Tomatoes (RT) ratings are provided for additional info.
1 /10
Cast: Kyle MacLachlan, José Ferrer, Francesca Annis, Richard Jordan, Virginia Madsen, Silvana Mangano, Jürgen Prochnow, Sean Young, Max von Sydow, Sting
Runtime: 2 hours 17 minutes
IMDb rating: 6.3
RT rating: 36 per cent
Synopsis: Paul Atreides (MacLachlan) is the son of a duke in a far future intergalactic civilisation. His family has gained control of a desert planet named Arrakis — the source of a rare drug, spice, needed for space travel. While his deployment to Arrakis brings Paul and his family in conflict with other noble families in the galaxy, he is also seen as a messianic figure by the planet’s native, the Fremen.
More about the film: The 1984 sci-fi movie is the first adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel of the same name. It marks the debut of MacLachlan, who later won two Golden Globes for his performances in Lynch’s Twin Peaks TV series.
Dune was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound but was a box office bomb at the time of its release despite praise from Herbert himself. However, it has been reviewed more positively in recent years, especially due to the rediscovered interest following the immense commercial and critical popularity of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune in 2021.
Image credit: IMDb
2 /10
Cast: Laura Dern, Justin Theroux, Harry Dean Stanton, Julia Ormond, Diane Ladd, Peter J. Lucas, Naomi Watts (voice), Lynch (voice)
Runtime: 3 hours
IMDb rating: 6.8
RT rating: 72 per cent
Synopsis: Nikki (Dern) is an actress who has landed the lead role in a new film. Her co-star is actor Devon (Theroux). Even though her jealous husband, Piotrek (Lucas), has warned Devon of consequences if he gets close to her, Nikki begins an affair with her co-star. As the production progresses, the actors learn that it is a remake of an earlier film whose leads died during filming. Nikki soon finds herself unable to distinguish between her character and real life, which increasingly becomes nightmarish.
More about the film: Inland Empire was David Lynch’s final feature-length film before his death. Lynch not only wrote, produced and directed it, but also handled the score, sound design, cinematography and editing alongside lending his voice to a character.
According to a BBC report, the film took about two-and-half years to make as there was no completed script. Actors were presented their lines by Lynch on the day of the shoot of their scenes. At its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where Lynch was presented with a lifetime achievement award, Dern reportedly said, “The truth is I didn’t know who I was playing – and I still don’t know. I’m looking forward to seeing the film tonight to learn more.”
The Guardian included the experimental film in its list of 10 most-underrated movies of the decade in 2009, placing it at #5.
3 /10
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe, Crispin Glover, Diane Ladd
Runtime: 2 hours 5 minutes
IMDb rating: 7.2
RT rating: 65 per cent
Synopsis: Sailor Ripley (Cage) is a recently released convict who has reunited with his girlfriend, Lula Fortune (Dern). But Lula’s mother, Marietta (Ladd), has hired a hitman to kill Sailor. Interestingly, Sailor was jailed after he killed a hitman previously hired by Marietta in self-defence. The couple go on the run, but Sailor runs into an old friend, Bobby Peru (Dafoe), who urges him to rob a store. Sailor agrees, unaware that Bobby has also been hired to kill him.
More about the film: David Lynch won the Palme d’Or at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival for Wild at Heart, which was seen as a controversial decision at the time due to the mixed critical reception for the film. Ladd received a Best Supporting Actress nod at the Oscars. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Barry Gifford, which was released earlier the same year.
4 /10
Cast: Sheryl Lee, Ray Wise, Kyle MacLachlan, Mädchen Amick, Dana Ashbrook, Phoebe Augustine, Pamela Gidley
Runtime: 2 hours 14 minutes
IMDb rating: 7.3
RT rating: 64 per cent
Synopsis: An FBI agent disappears while investigating the murder of a teen girl named Teresa Banks (Gidley) in the town of Deerfield in Washington. Another agent, Dale Cooper (MacLachlan), believes that the murderer, who remains on the loose, will claim another victim. Meanwhile, Laura Palmer (Lee), a popular high school student in the nearby town of Twin Peaks, is going down a dangerous path.
More about the film: The supernatural horror serves as a prequel to Lynch’s acclaimed television series Twin Peaks (1990–1991). Several actors from the show are therefore also part of the movie’s cast. Reviews of the film were not as good as the reception of the TV show.
In 2014, deleted scenes from the film were released as a feature-length compilation titled Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces. The original story from the TV show continued with Twin Peaks: The Return (2017), also known as Twin Peaks season 3.
5 /10
Cast: Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Allen Joseph, Jeanne Bates, Judith Roberts
Runtime: 1 hour 29 minutes
IMDb rating: 7.3
RT rating: 89 per cent
Synopsis: Henry Spencer (Nance) is a resident of a seemingly bleak industrial megacity. He learns that his girlfriend, Mary X (Stewart), is pregnant. He marries her and she moves in with him. But their child turns out to be a snake-like creature, whose incessant cries force Mary to leave it in Henry’s care. Subsequently, Henry experiences hallucinations as the distinction between the real and imaginary in his world blurs.
More about the film: David Lynch made his big screen debut with this independent film. Made on a budget of USD 100,000, the film ended up earning USD 7 million worldwide. It was critically well-received and is counted among the best American films of the 20th century.
6 /10
Cast: Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, Robert Blake
Runtime: 2 hours 14 minutes
IMDb rating: 7.6
RT rating: 70 per cent
Synopsis: Fred Madison (Pullman) finds his life turned upside down when he starts receiving mysterious VHS tapes featuring him and his wife, Renee (Arquette). The mystery deepens when he is convicted of Renee’s inexplicable murder and is transformed into a young mechanic named Pete Dayton (Getty), who leads a completely different life but is somehow connected to the mystery.
More about the film: David Lynch had said that Lost Highway was inspired by the televised trial of O.J. Simpson. It was not a commercial success and received mixed reviews from critics upon release, but has since been reevaluated and appreciated for its surreal themes.
Patricia Arquette has called Lost Highway the “hardest movie” for her.
“Especially sexually. I think I probably had a lot of trauma. For many years, I would even take baths in the dark, alone with just a candle,” she told IndieWire while being interviewed for her Apple TV+ show Severance.
In fact, she learned of Lynch’s death while being interviewed on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy for Severance, following which she said, “David was really incredible. There’s nobody like him.”
Image credit: IMDb
7 /10
Cast: Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern
Runtime: 2 hours
IMDb rating: 7.7
RT rating: 95 per cent
Synopsis: Jeffrey Beaumont (MacLachlan), a college student who is back home following his father’s stroke, gets involved in a mysterious case when he finds a severed human ear in a field. Helping him is Sandy Williams (Dern), the daughter of a detective. The two suspect that lounge singer Dorothy Vallens (Rossellini) is connected to the mystery. As Jeffrey investigates on his own, he is drawn into Dorothy’s world and must face a psychopathic drug dealer named Frank (Hopper) who has kidnapped her husband and child.
More about the film: David Lynch received his second Oscar nod for Best Director for Blue Velvet, even though the psychological thriller was not particularly pleasing to critics due to its explicit content. The film is today widely hailed as one of the greatest ever made in the American film industry and is also praised for its soundtrack.
8 /10
Cast: Justin Theroux, Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Ann Miller, Robert Forster
Runtime: 2 hours 27 minutes
IMDb rating: 7.9
RT rating: 84 per cent
Synopsis: A mysterious woman, who has amnesia, assumes the name Rita (Harring) after surviving a car wreck and finding refuge in the home of aspiring Hollywood actress Betty (Watts) on Mulholland Drive near Los Angeles. The two begin searching for clues to Rita’s true identity and eventually get close to each other. But as they progress, the reality starts changing around Betty.
More about the film: Widely hailed as one of the greatest movies ever made, Mulholland Drive is a modern neo-noir masterpiece which earned Lynch the Best Director award at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival along with Joel Coen who was honoured for The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001). The film also earned Lynch his third Oscar nomination for Best Director. The accolades for Mulholland Drive include the Best Foreign Film award at the César Awards, France’s highest film honour.
9 /10
Cast: Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek, Harry Dean Stanton
Runtime: 1 hour 52 minutes
IMDb rating: 8.0
RT rating: 95 per cent
Synopsis: Alvin Straight (Farnsworth) is a World War II veteran in his 70s. When he learns that his estranged brother Lyle (Stanton) may not recover from a stroke, he decides to undertake a 390-km journey from his city, Laurens in Iowa, to his brother’s home in Mount Zion, Wisconsin. The problem is that he is physically not fit to get a driving license. But the determined Alvin sets off on his 30-year-old extremely slow-moving lawn mower he had recently purchased.
More about the film: The Straight Story is based on the inspirational true story of Alvin Straight’s epic 1994 journey from Iowa to Wisconsin on a lawn mower and the positive impact on the people he met along the way.
The film was critically acclaimed upon release and was nominated for numerous awards, including an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Farnsworth’s performance.
10 /10
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Hannah Gordon, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Freddie Jones
Runtime: 2 hours 4 minutes
IMDb rating: 8.2
RT rating: 92 per cent
Synopsis: Dr. Frederic Treves (Hopkins), a kind-hearted surgeon in 19th century London, rescues John Merrick (Hurt) from a freak show. John has a deformed skull, which gives his head the appearance of an elephant. The doctor discovers that John has remarkable intelligence, which the British upper class society also takes note of. However, their own fascination with John seems to mirror that of the freak show visitors who saw him as curious other than a human being.
More about the film: The Elephant Man is widely hailed as the best work by David Lynch. Based on the real-life Dr. Treves and English artist Joseph Merrick, who suffered from the same condition and was known as Elephant Man, the film received the César Award for Best Foreign Film as well as BAFTAs for Best Film, Best Actor, and Best Production Design.
It was nominated for eight Oscars. The film was also widely praised for makeup, but there was no Oscar category for it at the time. The Academy, therefore, started awarding Oscars for Best Makeup and Hairstyling starting with the 1982 ceremony.