Bizarre, crazy, terrifying, frustrating. Inland Empire isn't for everyone, but I found it to be a fascinating ride - it's scary, darkly funny, and downright weird. Not for kids, but mature teens can handle it.
David Lynch's Inland Empire
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Is it age appropriate?
About our ratings -
Is it any good?
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Common Sense says
Trippy, twisty thriller is totally out to Lynch.
Why We Rated This 
for Ages 16–18
What to watch out for
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Violence:
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What Parents Need to Know
This review of David Lynch's Inland Empire was written by Charles Cassady Jr.
Parents need to know that most teens probably won't want to see this strange, practically "underground" David Lynch movie, despite its cast of relatively well-known actors and the fact that Lynch himself has a certain cachet among teens who like their entertainment weird, grotesque, and cool. Much of it defies standard logic, comprehension, and all Hollywood rules of linear storytelling. Plus, although not all experimental movies are filled with adult, disturbing, and taboo material, this one has its fair share.
Families Can Talk About
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- Families can talk about the way the story is told. Is it even clear what the story (or stories) is (or are)? Do you think Lynch could have made the movie simpler and easier to understand and still captured the dreamlike ambiance? Why do you think he chose not to? How is this movie similar to Lynch's other films? How is it different? Why do you think well-known actors would appear in such an unconventional production?
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More on David Lynch's Inland Empire
What’s the Story?
Nikki (Laura Dern) is a successful Hollywood actress who has just won the female lead in a major production. Nikki's co-star, Devon (Justin Theroux), is notorious for his on-set love affairs; as rehearsals begin, Nikki's menacing Polish husband warns Devon not to try any funny stuff with her -- or else. Their director (Jeremy Irons) reveals that the movie they're shooting is a remake of a never-finished film that was based on an Eastern-European gypsy folktale -- which was never finished because the lead actors were both murdered. Then Nikki gets an ominous visit from a gypsy-type woman who cautions her in cryptic terms.
Is It Any Good?
Plenty of mainstream filmmakers (Jim Henson and Orson Welles, to name just two) start out doing abstract, weird, experimental productions you'd never associate with their typical Hollywood output. But director David Lynch has never quite left behind his oddball roots in troubling movies like his 1978 breakthrough Eraserhead -- a sort of cinematic bad dream you can't forget. For INLAND EMPIRE, Lynch goes back to that style in a big way (three hours' worth). Even though the movie stars relatively well-known actors whom kids might recognize -- like Lynch regular Dern -- Inland Empire isn't for kids, or even a lot of grownups. The film showcases Lynch at his most unleashed, nerve-jangled, and avant-garde, a mode that his die-hard fans find mesmerizing, but which a lot of unaccustomed viewers will just see as a creepy, borderline-unwatchable puzzle.
At the one-hour point, the movie seems warp into another reality -- maybe the film-within-the-film, or maybe a parallel universe of some sort. The ladylike, mansion-dwelling Nikki has now become Susan, a hard-bitten, foulmouthed woman who lives in a squalid bungalow and openly cheats on her Polish husband, who abuses her. Viewers also see the rabbit people again, a woman planning bloody murder with a screwdriver, Devon reappearing as a guy named Billy, and flashbacks to Eastern Europe in the early 20th century. What's up? Is Nikki taking her role too seriously and having a real affair with Devon? Is she just thinking about it? Or is Lynch playing an even trickier game with the idea of filmmaking as sort of dreaming? Or dreaming as filmmaking? People who are really into Lynch (or writing for serious film journals) will spend years answering those questions -- and if that's your notion of entertainment, enjoy.
Movie Details
Studio: Columbia Tristar, Director: David Lynch
Run time: 172 minutes
Theatrical release: 12/15/2006, DVD release: 8/14/2007
MPAA Rating: R for language, some violence and sexuality/nudity.
Run time: 172 minutes
Theatrical release: 12/15/2006, DVD release: 8/14/2007
MPAA Rating: R for language, some violence and sexuality/nudity.
Our Members Say
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Most Recent Reviews
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I rate this title iffy for age 14 and give it
David Lynch is a madman.
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I rate this title iffy for age 15 and give it
hardest lynch movie to decipher
i think david lynch gets a bit full of himself in this one. the first hour has a coherent storyline, but after that it becomes almost indecipherable. unless you're an expert film analyst, this film most likely won't be of any use to you. btw this film scared me worse than any other movie i have ever seen
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I rate this title off for age 17 and give it
Love David Lynch, and once again he made something that doesn't quite fit what you have in mind.
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I rate this title on and give it
I Gained six Brain cells.....
This Movie is a Lynch Film if you dont know who lynch is then I suggest you dont take a look at this movie. There is alot of frames to install in you brain.Not a movie for children who are who have never seen the local news.
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I rate this title iffy and give it
Inland Empire
Inland Empire is strictly for David Lynch fans only - I can almost guarantee that everyone else will hate this 3-hour long, absolutely nonsensical trip. I thought that the majority of Inland Empire was brilliant and mesmerizing - it does lose a bit of steam in the last third, but besides that, this was a strange and fascinating slice of cinematic insanity.
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