Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for movies like Lost Highway:
Enemy
Enemy‘s true power lies in its ambiguity. Unlike conventional narratives that spoon-feed answers, Denis Villeneuve invites the audience to actively participate in unraveling the movie’s enigmatic plotlines. The recurring spider motif becomes a potent symbol, open to individual interpretation. Is it a harbinger of danger, a manifestation of repressed desires, or simply a narrative thread to guide us through the inner turmoil of Adam (Jake Gyllenhaal)? The beauty lies in the absence of definitive answers for Enemy, where Denis allows you to form your own conclusions.
Kinds of Kindness
As a side project conceived during the creation of Poor Things, Kinds of Kindness is quite the undertaking for Yorgos Lanthimos. The movie is hefty and left with a lot of gristle. While the performances of the cast suggest a film trying to have a lot of fun, the lack of cohesion took me out of a movie overstaying its welcome.
Infinity Pool
There are some real highlights in Brandon Cronenberg‘s newest art house horror movie, mainly the chemistry between Alexander Skarsgard and Mia Goth. But Infinity Pool struggles to build into anything beyond a set of shocking horror images and audacious scenes.
Blue Velvet
If for nothing else, Blue Velvet serves as a key to unlock the filmography of David Lynch, as if every subsequent movie would take bits and pieces from Blue Velvet and expand them into their own ideas and themes. It’s cryptic, morally ambiguous, and set in the heart of a deep underbelly within small town life. The film is beguiling as hell, and even features many of Lynch’s recurring actors and actresses, led by Kyle MacLachlan and Laura Dern. The movie isn’t as nearly as cut-and-dry as its noir elements suggest and its contemporaries often were, and it seems that public consensus has only further improved since Blue Velvet‘s release in 1986.
Blood Simple
Nearly every time I revisit Blood Simple, I’m struck by how confident and precise Joel and Ethan Coen were right out of the gate. Released in 1984, Blood Simple is the Coen brothers’ debut film and still stands as one of the greatest first features ever made. A neo-noir steeped in paranoia, betrayal, and bloody miscommunication, it’s a film that knows exactly what it wants to be—lean, stylish, and razor-sharp.
Beau Is Afraid
Ari Aster puts his career and positive public perception on the line to create his most singular and divisive piece of filmmaking yet. Although easily his least accessible and structured movie, Beau Is Afraid still manages to work due to Aster‘s distinct eye for jaw-dropping images and scenes and Joaquin Phoenix‘s committed performance.
Videodrome
Videodrome is a bold, grotesque, and startlingly prescient film, and while it may not be David Cronenberg’s most accessible work, it’s certainly one of his most important. A high-concept fever dream of sex, violence, and screen-induced madness, it’s no wonder this is one of the director’s most widely discussed and celebrated films.
Eraserhead
Eraserhead is unlike anything you’ll ever see – both a testament to David Lynch’s early adoption of idiosyncratic, dreamlike imagery and his interest in turning the usual into the surreal. It’s no wonder the acclaimed director’s 1977 debut breakthrough still stands among the best first films ever made and a canonical entry in 1970s filmmaking; an era that saw decades of boundary-pushing auteurs establish themselves in the industry. While David Lynch‘s career arch wouldn’t take the form of a traditional blockbuster filmmaker, there was clearly enough in Eraserhead to hand him the car keys for whatever passion projects he decided to tackle in the future.
Don’t Worry Darling
While it’s easy to point fingers and blame the film’s issues on just a few individuals, Don’t Worry Darling, at its core, is flawed. A meandering story can’t be saved by Florence Pugh and Harry Styles.
Inland Empire
Inland Empire is not nearly the best David Lynch movie, but it sure is the strangest. It bounces from loosely connected vignettes at a moments notice. Lynch finds a groove with help from a trio of solid performances, headlined by Laura Dern as the main character capable of morphing when required.
