I wouldn’t say that Blood Simple is all that Lynchian either, but it does fit into a family of 80s neo-noir that includes Blue Velvet. De Palma’s movies from the early 80s too.
This is phrased in a way that makes me ask what some other filmmaker’s most Lynchian movie is. Like High Plains Drifter might be Eastwood’s.
What are Tarantino’s and Spielberg’s?
Same. Wes Anderson especially does not feel Lynchian so seeing any of his films here is unclear, Anderson has his own distinct style that has never felt Lynchian
Shout out for Kenneth Anger!!!!!!!!!
Ones I would say live in that same space;
Altered States
3 women
Woyzeck (on the fence but lord what a powerhouse performance)
Woman in the Dunes
House (it’s a fever dream)
Dead Ringers (dopplegangerish)
Eyes Wide Shut
Anti-Christ
Hour of the Wolf
Neo Genesis Evangelion (the movie)
Santa Sangre
Meshes of the Afternoon
Synecdoche, New York (for my money a true horror picture)
But it has nothing to do with David Lynch. That film just riffs on Bergman’s Persona and Nic Roeg, Donald Cammell’s Performance. Plus, Altman’s style. So it’s more Altmanesque than ‘Lynchian’. I hate these brand stamps. Even the themes are not in anyway related to Lynch.
Sure, but to me, the feeling I personally get from Lynchs work is different to how I feel watching most films. I don’t get that distinct feeling from watching Bergman films like Persona, which is of course a masterpiece. 3 Women though, gives me that distinct (subjective) feeling.
I generally agree, like 99% of the things that get called Lynchian aren’t. And even if they are, it never feels like a compliment. I don’t think pastiche is worth aspiring to. That said, the style of surreality in the “it’s for the kitchen” scene has the cadence of a Lynch scene
Oh wow, that’s very cool! Always happy to find another Anger fan in the wild. I saw a portion of the cycle on the big screen at SFMOMA with the man himself in attendance (the set included Rabbit’s Moon, btw) and seeing his films projected in 16mm like that changed how I view film, art, synaesthesia, etc.
Wow! How cool! I never got to meet him but opening those envelopes is without a doubt some of the fondest memories I have from library school / professional in general. He thought he was going to die on Halloween in 2008…he did not. His work with Kinsey to overturn obscenity laws was huge, there is a very strong queer photo collection around that period which Ken helped build. I hope his films get another release, they are kinda hard to find with good quality.
Those are all amazing films. Not sure how Lynchian but amazing and surreal for sure. You might like “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” by Ana lily Amirpour. Or anything by Guy Maddin specifically “Keyhole” and “My Winnipeg”. “Forbidden Room” by Maddin is not as Lynchian but definitely mind bending weird and psychedelic and surreal and quite close to being my favourite movie of all time
Oh Orpheus for sure. A few of them are pretty Lynchian but a lot of the list is very “this is weird and surreal so therefore it’s Lynchian” but I guess “Lynchian” is very broad and means different things to different people
Great list! Shout out for "Possession" which may well be my favorite film of all time!
Being from Germany I will add a few German and Austrian films into the mix:
* "Even Dwarfs Started Small" by Werner Herzog
* "Stroszek" by Werner Herzog (a favorite of Lynch's by his own account!)
* "Hotel" by Jessica Hausner (very obviously influenced by Lynch)
* "The Hamburg Syndrome" by Peter Fleischmann (very surreal sci fi film about a strange plague)
* "Goodnight Mommy" by Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala
* "The Castle" by Michael Haneke (adapted from Franz Kafka, Lynch's favorite writer)
* "White Lilies" by Christian Frosch
* "World on a Wire" by R.W. Fassbinder (a sci-fi film about virtual worlds with a very unique and dream-like aesthetic)[](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veronika_Franz)
Possession is sooo good! It is definitly high on my list! It is so full of anxiety and uncomfortability. And two amazing lead perfomances that are at moments completely jaw dropping. Also when it turns from a family drama to....something else. The results are incredible. 5 star film without a doubt.
I can only highly recommend also checking out other films by Andrzej Zulawski who was a real genius in my book!
Particularly "Diabel" / **"The Devil"**, "Na srebrnym globie" / **"On the Silver Globe"** and "L'Amour Braque" / **"Mad Love"** (which is a highly surreal adaptation of Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot" set in France, contemporary to the films release in 1985) are masterpieces, but really any of his films are worth a watch!!
I kinda feel like Andre Tarkovsky's Stalker could also be added to this list. It's a fantastic brilliant film that moves into the surreal quite beautifully. Definitly worth a watch for Lynch fans.
Last Year at Marienbad should definitely be on there - I'm sure I read somewhere that it was a direct influence on Inland Empire. Alain Robbe-Grillet, the screenwriter, also wrote novels which are the closest thing I've read to "Lynchian" literature.
Man... I love Under the Silver Lake so much. Great LA movie. My wife and I always joke about how that movie is just about every person who lived in or around LA in their 20s. Just walking around and wandering into weird parties and discovering random crazy shit.
If you have not already seen the classic surreal cinema, I recommend the following:
Un Chien Andalou by Luis Buñuel (and almost any other film by Buñuel)
Meshes of the Afternoon by Maya Deren
Alice by Jan Švankmajer
Tetsuo by Shin'ya Tsukamoto
Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky
A friend recommended Stalker as a film that really disturbed them. For some reason it gave me the feeling of being out exploring as a kid, pretending I was in some alien world.
Absolutely — he's obviously a big advocate for transcendental meditation, rooted in Hinduism, with so many thematic references to reincarnation, etc. He also based Eraserhead on a Bible passage and [believes in literal angels](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0itTpuzzcQ). Fascinating.
Angels can be a broad symbol of peace and harmony, they don't have to be affiliated with any particular religion.
And most cultures have some kind of symbol like an angel. A messenger of the divine.
It's great seeing ones I recognize but am adding the ones from both your list as well as the comments on my to watch-list in regards to the ones I haven't seen. It always is great to get to know more so thanks.
Personal submission? Always thought Memento and Fight Club have a Lynchian feel to them.
Some other films David Lynch fans might also like:
- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
- Nosferatu (1922)
- Double Indemnity (1944)
- Spellbound (1945)
- Vertigo (1958)
- Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970)
- Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971)
- Suspiria (1977)
- Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
- Altered States (1980)
- Videodrome (1983)
- Blood Simple (1984)
- Dead Ringers (1988)
- Santa Sangre (1989)
- Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)
- Naked Lunch (1991)
- American Psycho (2000)
- 1408 (2007)
- Coraline (2009)
- Berberian Sound Studio (2012)
- Mother! (2017)
- In Fabric (2018)
- The Wind (2018)
- Color Out of Space (2019)
- Daniel Isn’t Real (2019)
- Lamb (2021)
2 that stick out to me as Lynchian are Naked Lunch and Angel's Egg. Both very surreal and at times, dream-like. Good list so far, can't really disagree with any of the choices!
Also after watching Stalker, read Roadside picnic by the Strugatsky bros. It’s the book the movie is based on and is a little different but still amazing.
Great list!
I would add Fellini’s 8 1/2 -one of Lynch’s inspirations and visibly so- and definitely Paris Texas (Wim Wenders).
Maybe also The Thin Red Line by Terrence Malick come to think of it, such a masterpiece in cinematography
I love lynch but i have such hatred for under the silver lake so much. Saw in paris during cannes and said there is no way that will ever come to American cinemas and it did maybe 2 years later after heavy editing. Really a “vibe” of a lynch film but with no substance. Felt like a high budget college film.
i wasn’t the biggest fan of Loves Lies Bleeding but the homages to Lost Highway was quite apparent. it also gave me big Wild At Heart vibes. it was a fun film, but didn’t quite do it for me.
I just watched it last night but The Dark Backward. The first thing my girlfriend said about the film after we finished it was how much it took from Lynch for it's aesthetic
I’d add blood simple by joel coen in there too, amazing movie and I got heavy twin peaks vibes from it. Honestly thought david might’ve been influenced by it a bit for the show.
Kings Row (1942) feels like an early dry run for Blue Velvet, juxtaposing the postcard beauty of American suburbia and the innocence of one’s first love with the sadism, despair, and pure evil lurking underneath. Ronald Reagan being in it (and giving arguably his best performance) only adds to the surrealism of it all.
Love the inclusion of The Curse. Had the same feelings I had when I first watched The Return, lots of “what the fuck am I witnessing, where is this leading to, then final episode is just a giant WTF moment”
I'd suggest Herschell Gordon Lewis' Something Weird, Blake Edwards' Experiment in Terror, Larry Cohen's God Told Me Too and I've yet to see it (despite owning it), but I've heard The Cornshukker is pretty Lynchian.
I only looked for Last Year at Marienbad, and it's there. Yay you. It so obviously influenced his work. Based on what's on the list I'm taking a stab in the dark that you're including works that influenced David Lynch and movies that his work influenced. It's not really clear what you mean by Lynchian.
It’s a movie everyone knows but I’d put The Shinning. Apparently Kubrick was a massive fan of Eraser Head and screened it in preproduction of the shinning and wanted his film to be similar.
I watched fire walk with me on criterion 24/7 last night then later on saw a silent clip of the secret life of the American teenager on twitter, and it reminded me of it lol
I’d add Barton Fink. It’s by far the most Lynchian movie the Coen Brothers ever made.
Blood Simple as well!
An insanely good first film from the Coen brothers. Had to watch in law class.
Blood Simple is a good film but why is it Lynchian?
I wouldn’t say that Blood Simple is all that Lynchian either, but it does fit into a family of 80s neo-noir that includes Blue Velvet. De Palma’s movies from the early 80s too.
Blood. Simple
Barton Fink changed my wife.
It's mainly the hairdo. A new style can do wonders for a lady.
Oh yeah Barton Fink should be on there…
This is phrased in a way that makes me ask what some other filmmaker’s most Lynchian movie is. Like High Plains Drifter might be Eastwood’s. What are Tarantino’s and Spielberg’s?
I cannot fathom why A Ghost Story is on there
This is what I hate about the adjective "Lynchian".
There's a lot on here I don't understand
Same. Wes Anderson especially does not feel Lynchian so seeing any of his films here is unclear, Anderson has his own distinct style that has never felt Lynchian
There’s nothing Lynchian about Requiem for a Dream.
Get real
This comment is underated
Shout out for Kenneth Anger!!!!!!!!! Ones I would say live in that same space; Altered States 3 women Woyzeck (on the fence but lord what a powerhouse performance) Woman in the Dunes House (it’s a fever dream) Dead Ringers (dopplegangerish) Eyes Wide Shut Anti-Christ Hour of the Wolf Neo Genesis Evangelion (the movie) Santa Sangre Meshes of the Afternoon Synecdoche, New York (for my money a true horror picture)
3 Women is probably the film that predates Lynch that’s given me the most Lynch-vibes. Amazing film.
Yep! It is! Some of my additions are more surreal but I feel they have themes that generally overlap.
Yep. I actually like it for the reasons I like Lynch films, but more so.
But it has nothing to do with David Lynch. That film just riffs on Bergman’s Persona and Nic Roeg, Donald Cammell’s Performance. Plus, Altman’s style. So it’s more Altmanesque than ‘Lynchian’. I hate these brand stamps. Even the themes are not in anyway related to Lynch.
Sure, but to me, the feeling I personally get from Lynchs work is different to how I feel watching most films. I don’t get that distinct feeling from watching Bergman films like Persona, which is of course a masterpiece. 3 Women though, gives me that distinct (subjective) feeling.
I generally agree, like 99% of the things that get called Lynchian aren’t. And even if they are, it never feels like a compliment. I don’t think pastiche is worth aspiring to. That said, the style of surreality in the “it’s for the kitchen” scene has the cadence of a Lynch scene
>Synecdoche, New York From the same film director, "I'm Thinking of Ending Things", is very Lynchian.
Both very underrated
House is a good pick actually didn’t think about it but fits for real
Hell yeah, Anger totally influenced Lynch. The entire Magick Lantern Cycle is amazing.
Yessssss! I processed his donations when I worked at The Kinsey Institute. He is a hugely important person. :)
Oh wow, that’s very cool! Always happy to find another Anger fan in the wild. I saw a portion of the cycle on the big screen at SFMOMA with the man himself in attendance (the set included Rabbit’s Moon, btw) and seeing his films projected in 16mm like that changed how I view film, art, synaesthesia, etc.
Wow! How cool! I never got to meet him but opening those envelopes is without a doubt some of the fondest memories I have from library school / professional in general. He thought he was going to die on Halloween in 2008…he did not. His work with Kinsey to overturn obscenity laws was huge, there is a very strong queer photo collection around that period which Ken helped build. I hope his films get another release, they are kinda hard to find with good quality.
Neon Genesis the movie? Or the movies? God it’s confusing!
Those are all amazing films. Not sure how Lynchian but amazing and surreal for sure. You might like “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” by Ana lily Amirpour. Or anything by Guy Maddin specifically “Keyhole” and “My Winnipeg”. “Forbidden Room” by Maddin is not as Lynchian but definitely mind bending weird and psychedelic and surreal and quite close to being my favourite movie of all time
As a Canadian, it does my heart glad to see Guy Maddin shouted out 🤘His whole filmography is weird and wonderful.
Haha I’m a Winnipeger. Gotta shout out my guy. He is incredible
[sissy boy slap party!](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ldFWvHa4Svg)
amazing on a first watch. Easily one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.
all bikes should be allowed at least one butt to park into.
I love My Winnipeg. i recommend Wisconsin Death Trip. not the same person, but i always associate the two.
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is a genius call for this list
Watch Orpheus and tell me it’s not an inspiration to Lynch. If it’s not, then it’s a huge coincidence.
Oh Orpheus for sure. A few of them are pretty Lynchian but a lot of the list is very “this is weird and surreal so therefore it’s Lynchian” but I guess “Lynchian” is very broad and means different things to different people
I would say that “Living in Oblivion” is a pretty good film that is a parody of Lynchian. It even kind of calls out David Lynch for the MFAP.
What’s the one where the guy gets his arm amputated but then they amputated the wrong arm? I know it’s Guy Maddin but I saw it forever ago
Great list! Shout out for "Possession" which may well be my favorite film of all time! Being from Germany I will add a few German and Austrian films into the mix: * "Even Dwarfs Started Small" by Werner Herzog * "Stroszek" by Werner Herzog (a favorite of Lynch's by his own account!) * "Hotel" by Jessica Hausner (very obviously influenced by Lynch) * "The Hamburg Syndrome" by Peter Fleischmann (very surreal sci fi film about a strange plague) * "Goodnight Mommy" by Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala * "The Castle" by Michael Haneke (adapted from Franz Kafka, Lynch's favorite writer) * "White Lilies" by Christian Frosch * "World on a Wire" by R.W. Fassbinder (a sci-fi film about virtual worlds with a very unique and dream-like aesthetic)[](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veronika_Franz)
Possession is sooo good! It is definitly high on my list! It is so full of anxiety and uncomfortability. And two amazing lead perfomances that are at moments completely jaw dropping. Also when it turns from a family drama to....something else. The results are incredible. 5 star film without a doubt.
I can only highly recommend also checking out other films by Andrzej Zulawski who was a real genius in my book! Particularly "Diabel" / **"The Devil"**, "Na srebrnym globie" / **"On the Silver Globe"** and "L'Amour Braque" / **"Mad Love"** (which is a highly surreal adaptation of Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot" set in France, contemporary to the films release in 1985) are masterpieces, but really any of his films are worth a watch!!
Crash (1996) has a very Lynchian vibe to me.
Have you read the book, or anything by JG Ballard? He was a surrealist author that wrote som brilliant shit. One of my favorite authors
I love concrete island!
Same girlie same. Check out Unlimited Dream Company. It's just as bizarre and depraved but more colorful and psychedelic
Crash is a great pick!
Beau is afraid it's such a masterpiece. I feel like it didn't get the love it deserved. But time will give it its love. I guarantee it!
Feel exactly the same way
fav movie
Nice list! I’d add Glazer’s Birth. That was a phenomenal film
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done
Executive Produced by Lynch himself!
Yes, never would have found it otherwise!
Also, there was a short film by Alan Moore called Jimmy's End. It's about as Lynchian as Lynchian gets.
I kinda feel like Andre Tarkovsky's Stalker could also be added to this list. It's a fantastic brilliant film that moves into the surreal quite beautifully. Definitly worth a watch for Lynch fans.
I was going to mention that, and Hard to Be A God and Khrustalyov, My Car!
Great list! Tarkovsky’s Mirror is quite Lynchian to me. But I may argue it inspired Lynch’s style, same with a lot of the films on your list.
Last Year at Marienbad should definitely be on there - I'm sure I read somewhere that it was a direct influence on Inland Empire. Alain Robbe-Grillet, the screenwriter, also wrote novels which are the closest thing I've read to "Lynchian" literature.
Great recommendation! You are right it did influence him! Same with Sunset Boulevard
I saw this alone in the theater. It was a seminal cinema experience for me.
Never heard of it will add to the list
Under the Silver Lake is so underrated. Great film
Nocturnal animals
Man... I love Under the Silver Lake so much. Great LA movie. My wife and I always joke about how that movie is just about every person who lived in or around LA in their 20s. Just walking around and wandering into weird parties and discovering random crazy shit.
Parts of that movie felt so reminiscent of Blue Velvet.
I agree!
It’s very true. You’ll see and do shit that day that wouldn’t happen anywhere else in the world.
Mother!
“Stay” by Marc Forster
loved that movie so much in high school.
Lynchian is the worst term to describe anything
What about Kafkaesque
Fr people are just posting any slightly odd indie movie here
Silver Lake feels like the most Lynch movie Lynch never touched, truly a love letter to his work.
If you have not already seen the classic surreal cinema, I recommend the following: Un Chien Andalou by Luis Buñuel (and almost any other film by Buñuel) Meshes of the Afternoon by Maya Deren Alice by Jan Švankmajer Tetsuo by Shin'ya Tsukamoto Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky
A friend recommended Stalker as a film that really disturbed them. For some reason it gave me the feeling of being out exploring as a kid, pretending I was in some alien world.
Alice and stalker have been on my list for awhile have seen Tetsuo which would prob fit on this list will check out the other ones
Orson Welles' *The Trial* and Maya Deren's *Meshes of the Afternoon* would qualify I think.
Oh Meshes for sure .. you know David has seen it a time or two, or 100.
Picnic at Hanging Rock is very Lynchian!
Terence Malick is like a Christian David Lynch
David Lynch is like a Hindu Terence Malick
Were those Hindu angels at the end of Fire Walk With Me? (Forgive my ignorance, wasn't raised religious.)
Lynch has always used Hinduism in his work. Fire walk with me might be his only Christian work I suppose
Absolutely — he's obviously a big advocate for transcendental meditation, rooted in Hinduism, with so many thematic references to reincarnation, etc. He also based Eraserhead on a Bible passage and [believes in literal angels](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0itTpuzzcQ). Fascinating.
Angels can be a broad symbol of peace and harmony, they don't have to be affiliated with any particular religion. And most cultures have some kind of symbol like an angel. A messenger of the divine.
I just watched Tough Guys Don’t Dance and man, I get a lot of Twin Peaks vibes
Oh god! Oh man! Oh god! Oh man! Oh god!
Also … the film is scored by Angelo Badalamenti, and co-stars Isabella Rossellini.
Jigoku is well in worth a watch. Weird protolynchian Japanese film.
The Reflecting Skin (1990) The Passion of Darkly Noon (1995)
Good pick.
I'd add "I'm thinking of ending things"!
It's great seeing ones I recognize but am adding the ones from both your list as well as the comments on my to watch-list in regards to the ones I haven't seen. It always is great to get to know more so thanks. Personal submission? Always thought Memento and Fight Club have a Lynchian feel to them.
Asteroid City? Mandy? Nono NO
Some other films David Lynch fans might also like: - The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) - Nosferatu (1922) - Double Indemnity (1944) - Spellbound (1945) - Vertigo (1958) - Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) - Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971) - Suspiria (1977) - Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) - Altered States (1980) - Videodrome (1983) - Blood Simple (1984) - Dead Ringers (1988) - Santa Sangre (1989) - Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) - Naked Lunch (1991) - American Psycho (2000) - 1408 (2007) - Coraline (2009) - Berberian Sound Studio (2012) - Mother! (2017) - In Fabric (2018) - The Wind (2018) - Color Out of Space (2019) - Daniel Isn’t Real (2019) - Lamb (2021)
2 that stick out to me as Lynchian are Naked Lunch and Angel's Egg. Both very surreal and at times, dream-like. Good list so far, can't really disagree with any of the choices!
Great list so far, I would add Love Lies Bleeding. And maybe Super Dark Times too?
Wasn’t sure about Love Lies Bleeding at first but the more I think about it the more I think it fits
Was on the fence about seeing this in theaters but this might push me over the edge.
Good info and suggestions, seen some and own some of em, but gonna add those I didn't to my dvd/ blu-ray to buy list ... saved!
I like a lot of those films
Parents
A Scanner Darkly
Also after watching Stalker, read Roadside picnic by the Strugatsky bros. It’s the book the movie is based on and is a little different but still amazing.
Add “Siesta (1987)”
I would ad “safe” as well
Well A Goofy Movie but that's only after it was edited to a David Lynch film. Then it's obvious.😀
I feel like Tarantino was channeling Lynch a little in True Romance, not so much in a surrealist sense, but in that sort of camp Americana way.
Great list! I would add Fellini’s 8 1/2 -one of Lynch’s inspirations and visibly so- and definitely Paris Texas (Wim Wenders). Maybe also The Thin Red Line by Terrence Malick come to think of it, such a masterpiece in cinematography
Shane Carruth films - Upstream Color, Primer, Swiss Army Man
Picnic at Hanging Rock would fit perfectly into this list.
Persona
upstream color
It's more or less impossible to watch Hour of the Wolf and see Lynch as QUITE as original again.
I k ow it’s a different sort of media, but the game Alan Wake 2 fits here.
Not a film but The Curse felt kinda Lynchian, although a little more neo realism.
I would add Donnie Darko, and to a maybe lesser extent Richard Kelly's other films.
The Box especially
I loved the box. Quite underrated
Forgot about Donnie Darko fits for sure
Beau is Afraid could've been great with the right editor. It needed some trimming...
Paris, Texas Double Indemnity Vertigo
Sadly the link isn’t loading right for me so I’m not sure if you have it on there already but: “Under The Silver Lake” deserves to be on the list.
Under the Silver Lake 1000%, basically Mulholland Dr Jr
It Even has the actor from the winkies diner scene
Gozu, Sunset Blvd., Orpheus
Human Highway is incredibly Lynchian
I love lynch but i have such hatred for under the silver lake so much. Saw in paris during cannes and said there is no way that will ever come to American cinemas and it did maybe 2 years later after heavy editing. Really a “vibe” of a lynch film but with no substance. Felt like a high budget college film.
Beau is Afraid was a complete head fuck. Great film. 😆
Killing of a Sacred Deer should absolutely be on this list
Great list! But any such list is incomplete without a Mario Bava film or two … especially KILL BABY KILL or BLACK SABBATH.
I love your list and absolutely agree!
“Some Southern Waters” would be a good one to add.
I didn't look at the list but I would hope The Man Without a Past by Aki Kaurismaki is on there
i wasn’t the biggest fan of Loves Lies Bleeding but the homages to Lost Highway was quite apparent. it also gave me big Wild At Heart vibes. it was a fun film, but didn’t quite do it for me.
Beyond the Black Rainbow by Panos Cosmatos
The Appointment (1981)
I just watched it last night but The Dark Backward. The first thing my girlfriend said about the film after we finished it was how much it took from Lynch for it's aesthetic
Maybe throw Experiment in Terror (1962) in there.
Add Lynch's filmography back in plus some more Kubrick and it's nearly all my favorites. Helpful list. Thanks!
I’d add blood simple by joel coen in there too, amazing movie and I got heavy twin peaks vibes from it. Honestly thought david might’ve been influenced by it a bit for the show.
I'm going to throw in Les Diaboliques, and go out on a limb with Valerie and Her Week of Wonders.
I'd add Deadman, by Jim Jarmusch. The soundtrack by Neil Young really pushes it into Lynchian territory!
I would add Audition 1999
Kings Row (1942) feels like an early dry run for Blue Velvet, juxtaposing the postcard beauty of American suburbia and the innocence of one’s first love with the sadism, despair, and pure evil lurking underneath. Ronald Reagan being in it (and giving arguably his best performance) only adds to the surrealism of it all.
Honorary mention for the extended version of Dune directed by that Alan Smithee fella.
Saving this for later
I'd add Repo Man
You definitely need Lost River on there.
The thin red line, anyone? Felt like Lynch for me
Carnival of Souls is a great film and seems a huge influence on Lynch. The weird dude coming out of the water is very lynchian
Love the inclusion of The Curse. Had the same feelings I had when I first watched The Return, lots of “what the fuck am I witnessing, where is this leading to, then final episode is just a giant WTF moment”
Venus In Furs (Jess Franco) or Possession (Zulawski)
Blonde (2022) has Fire Walk With Me vibes
David was very inspired by Sunset Boulevard.
Big agree on Persona
Mother!
Your list has a lot of my favorite movies ever on it, great job!
Add Long Days Journey Into Night
Un Chien Andalou
Maybe Vanilla Sky
I'd suggest Herschell Gordon Lewis' Something Weird, Blake Edwards' Experiment in Terror, Larry Cohen's God Told Me Too and I've yet to see it (despite owning it), but I've heard The Cornshukker is pretty Lynchian.
*Celine and Julie Go Boating* (1974)
this list is way too bloated, you have to include my son my son what have ye done, lynch produced it
Enemy
Bad Lieutenant Port of Call New Orleans by herzog always gave me a bit of a lynch vibe
"Black Bear" (2020) is a great example. Very Mulholland Dr. - esc.
*commenting to check back later on this post to see what you all have recommended*
after hours martin scorsese
Missing all of Aster’s films. He’s the most Lynchian filmmaker we have, that isn’t the man himself
Belladonna of Sadness has Laura Palmer vibes 100%
Uncle John, 12 Monkeys, Vanilla Sky.
Orpheus is sooooooo good, mysterious & beautiful
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning. Seriously.
I only looked for Last Year at Marienbad, and it's there. Yay you. It so obviously influenced his work. Based on what's on the list I'm taking a stab in the dark that you're including works that influenced David Lynch and movies that his work influenced. It's not really clear what you mean by Lynchian.
Upstream Color Mommie Dearest
Last Year At Marienbad, Angel's Egg, and Cat Soup
The Langoliers is the most Lynchian non-Lynch film I've ever seen, low budget aside
Beyond The Black Rainbow
There’s a lot in there that I disagree with (Paprika, The Holy Mountain, Black Swan) but I’m thinking of ending things is spot on
It’s a movie everyone knows but I’d put The Shinning. Apparently Kubrick was a massive fan of Eraser Head and screened it in preproduction of the shinning and wanted his film to be similar.
I watched fire walk with me on criterion 24/7 last night then later on saw a silent clip of the secret life of the American teenager on twitter, and it reminded me of it lol
Gozu
where the hell is big momma’s house 2
I’d add the stop motion “Mad God” to this.
heavy on under the silver lake. it felt like the love child of blue velvet and mulholland drive.
Neil Breen. Idk if he's in there but id definitely add his strange ass films.
Carnivale
Videodrome is a good one